


The Mistletoe Promise

by elenam



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-09-14 06:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 35,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16907637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elenam/pseuds/elenam
Summary: Tessa Virtue probably hates Christmas as much as Scott Moir loves it. When they meet unexpectantly at the mall, they realize they would both benefit from being partners in crime against the whirlwind that is Christmas.





	1. November 5th

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> So these days I've been watching more cheesy romantic Christmas movies than what is reasonable and it gave me an idea. Why not make a Christmas story about Tessa and Scott? I was inspired by The Mistletoe Promise, one of my favourite movies among all the ones I watched. 
> 
> We all need a little Christmas fluff these days don't you think? 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

**It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas**

 

_It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas_  
_Everywhere you go_  
_Take a look at the five and ten, it's glistening once again_  
_With candy canes and silver lanes aglow_

* * *

 The snow storms that leave two feet of snow and a thick layer of ice covering your car in the morning; ice so thick that you have to spend a good ten minutes trying to break it from the windshield, your fingers turning blue and numb because of the cold.

The over-the-top cheerful carollers who sing the same songs over and over again; poor versions of Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland that make your ears almost bleed in protest.

The retailers in the stores who are borderline stalkers and can’t let anyone shop in peace without feeling the urge to give unwelcome advice; “Your mother would really love this sweater”, as if they had any clue who you are shopping for.

The too strong odors of sweet spices that induce nausea whenever you walk by a shop that sells either baked goods or body lotion.

The busy customers who are always running late, sweating under their heavy coats as they wait in line, spending money to buy non-personal gifts for everybody while they could simply exchange 20 dollars with every member of their family and save themselves so much trouble.

The Christmas trees, either fake or real, that leave a mess of thousands of tiny green pines covering the floor, pines you find stuck on your feet for weeks after.

Those were only a few reasons why Tessa Virtue didn’t like Christmas.

Unlike the vast majority of Canadians, when November first rolled around, she simply couldn’t wait to finally be in January. If she could skip the whole period of the holidays all together, jumping from Halloween to New Year’s Eve, she knew she would feel so much better.

She hadn’t always hated Christmas, but for a few years, she hadn’t been particularly fond of the holidays.

It was only November 5th, but she was already sick of the same twenty Christmas songs that played on repeat whether it was on the radio or at her office. Because every single one of her colleagues were Christmas fans; especially Amy, of course.

Amy, her colleague and her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend, simply adored Christmas.

Amy was a model that Tessa’s company had hired four years before for a photoshoot. It was supposed to be a one-time thing; a contract for one photoshoot only. Tessa had designed a winter collection for her active clothing line and had needed to hire someone to be the face of that new collection. So she had chosen Amy; a model with whom her business partner, who was still her boyfriend at the time, had developed a very close relationship, a little too close for Tessa’s wishes; so close that her ex had to be a full time employee at Tessa’s fashion company, much to her dismay.

As if it wasn’t hard enough to see her every day, ever since November first, that very same Amy had insisted that they played solely Christmas music at the office and she wore kitsch wool sweaters to work; reindeers, Christmas trees, snowmen and more. One even had twinkling lights on it.

Maybe it was the fact that Amy loved Christmas so much made Tessa hate it even more.

So it was to avoid Amy and her Christmas obsession that Tessa spent almost all her lunch breaks at the mall near her office. A weird choice, especially since the mall was probably the most Christmas-y place of all. As soon as Halloween was over and the pumpkins were all stored away, the hallways were invaded by Christmas decorations; tinsels, mistletoe, a giant Christmas tree, Santa Claus’ castle with its fake snow and giant faux red leather chair.

It was still better than sharing pleasantries with her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend, making small talk about how they were going to spend their holiday skiing in France.  
Plus, she adored the wonton soup they served at Kim’s, in the food court. Really, she enjoyed the little bit of quiet she found when she ate all by herself.

But the universe apparently didn’t want her to have a good time, because Tessa couldn’t suppress the urge to look at her Instagram feed on November 5th, only to discover with shock that Amy, of course, it was always about her, had posted a new picture of her and Ryan holding hands. There was nothing new with that, Amy always posted cheesy pictures of the two of them. What was new though, was the rock on her fourth finger. A really sparkly diamond so big that it probably hurt at the end of the day now graced her left hand.

That explained why both Ryan and Amy hadn’t come to work that Monday morning and why she had had to deal with a work overload.

Suddenly Tessa wasn’t hungry anymore.

Amy and Ryan were getting married. As if is it wasn’t hard enough having to work with her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend, now she was going to have to work with his fiancé.

Taking her head in both her hands, Tessa let out a loud sigh. She wasn’t going to survive Christmas, not this time. Amy and Ryan would be the end of her.

If only he would sell her his parts of the company.

She still regretted having made him her business partner when they were dating. She had been young, foolish and head over heels in love. She thought that Ryan and her would spend their whole lives together. She thought it would be even better if they could also work together. So she sold him 50 percent of her newly founded clothing line for almost nothing. He had studied in accounting and while she was a really good designer, she was bad with numbers. She thought it would be the best of both worlds; she’d get to design and her boyfriend would take care of the numbers.

She learned it the hard way that she should have been less naïve. She had said it herself; she knew nothing about numbers. How could she let herself be fooled like that? Never, ever, should Ryan have had access to fifty percent of her company.

Now that they were separated, he wanted her to sell him her parts and so did she. So as long as neither of them gave up, they were stuck together. It explained why Ryan and Amy tried to make her life as miserable as they could every Christmas; so she would sell them her parts.

The first year, he had vetoed every single new clothing line she had presented to the board, as if he had any taste in fashion. She had designed maybe a total of ten different clothing lines before giving up the idea of making one for the holidays. After she had thrown all her work to the trash, Ryan had come in her office, claiming that if she couldn’t produce anymore, she should think of selling her parts before the company had to file for bankruptcy. That was when she understood what he had in mind.

The next year, he hired a model that was ten feet deep in controversy without obtaining her consent. It was a friend of Amy, of course. Tessa had had to work then times harder than before with the press to apologize for the mistake and it took months for the company to get over it.

This year, well, she had yet to see what he had in store. Maybe the announcement of his wedding would be enough.

No matter what he did though, she was never going to sell to him; not even if they asked her to design Amy’s wedding dress or if they had their wedding right in the middle of the office for her to see.

It was her fashion line and she was keeping it.

In the meantime, if she had to endure Instagram posts of wedding rings and sure to come discussion about caterers, bridesmaids and bouquet of flowers, so be it. She was used to pushing her feelings aside.

Letting out another loud sigh, Tessa ate a wonton before pushing her soup away; she really wasn’t hungry anymore.

She jumped when she looked and saw four carollers standing right in front of her table. They were smiling expectantly and they greeted her before starting a poorly interpreted version of Jingle Bells, making her smile awkwardly while wishing the floor would just swallow her. Not only did she have a dislike for all things Christmas related, but she was also an introvert, so she simply hated the attention the carollers were putting on her.

She looked around only to realize she was the only person in the mall who seemed bothered by the carollers. People were either deep in conversations or looking at her with fond smiles. There was even an old lady mouthing the lyrics as she tapped her feet rhythmically to the song.

But Tessa wasn’t at ease, not at all.

She looked to her right desperately, trying to see if maybe she could escape discretely or redirect the carollers to a family. All she saw was a man around her age, chuckling slightly at her predicament. He raised his bottle of iced tea towards her and gave her a wink “How awesome is Christmas, eh?” he said, before standing up, collecting his numerous shopping bags and walking away, leaving her all alone to deal with the group of cheerful singers.

She didn’t need the help of a Christmas lover anyway.

“Hum, than-thanks,” Tessa stuttered, cutting off the song.

“That was great but I, huh, I got to go. Thank you,” Tessa said, bending her head down in shame and leaving with her things really quickly.

She threw her trash a little hastily, trying to avoid the stare of people who were still looking at her, probably wondering what kind of horrible person she was for cutting off a group of carollers.

“So you don’t like Christmas music?” Tessa heard someone ask from beside her as she was busy cleaning off her tray.

She turned around to see the guy who had been seating next to her earlier. He was holding his awful lot of bags; probably already Christmas shopping like the majority of Montreal.

Tessa only half-smiled. She was in no mood to make conversation, not with everything that was going on in her life.

She walked away, not even taking the time to answer to the guy.

She usually wasn’t rude, but she had her exceptions, like everybody else. What could she say, she didn’t like Christmas. It made her do stupid things.

When she arrived at her office though, Tessa didn’t know anymore what was worst; being assaulted by smiling carollers or seeing Amy standing in the middle of the hall, showing off her enormous ring to everyone, Ryan’s arm around her waist.

Rolling her eyes, she passed by them, not even stopping by to congratulate the soon to be groom and his bride.

She closed the door to her office behind her, cutting off the gushing and the squeals coming from the hall.

Minutes later, there was a knock at the door; “Tessa?” she heard her best friend and colleague Kaitlyn ask from the other side of the door. Kaitlyn and Tessa had been friends ever since she had moved to Montreal. They had met in college where Tessa was studying both business and fashion. She and Kaitlyn, the latter being a business student, had some classes in common. When Tessa had the idea to start her own fashion line, Kaitlyn was right there to support her and offer her help. She was also there to advise Tessa to not sell fifty percent of her company to Ryan, but Tessa hadn’t listen. Five years later, Tessa still wished she could have been a better listener.

“Come in!” Tessa said to her friend.

The blond woman entered her office and looked at her with a sad smile.

Tessa sighed, sensing what her friend was going to say before she had the chance to open her mouth; “I’m alright.”

“Tess…” she trailed off.

“I’m alright I tell you. I don’t want to talk about it,” Tessa said, turning to her computer and opening her email box.

Kaitlyn left her office, probably sensing that she wasn’t in the mood. Tessa felt bad for being rude for the second time that day.

She didn’t have a lot of time to feel bad though, because Tessa suddenly saw what she had hoped she would never get in her email box; an invitation to Ryan and Amy’s engagement party on December 15th.

Did she really need to reiterate how much she hated Christmas?


	2. November 12th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the positive feedback you gave me! I'm really glad you seem to be enjoying this story :)
> 
> Today I offer you Scott's side of the story ;) Enjoy!

**It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year**

_It's the most wonderful time of the year_  
_With the kids jingle belling_  
_And everyone telling you be of good cheer_  
_It's the most wonderful time of the year_

_It's the hap-happiest season of all_  
_With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings_  
_When friends come to call_  
_It's the hap-happiest season of all_

_There'll be parties for hosting_  
_Marshmallows for toasting_  
_And caroling out in the snow_  
_There'll be scary ghost stories_  
_And tales of the glories of_  
_Christmases long, long ago_

_It's the most wonderful time of the year_  
_There'll be much mistltoeing_  
_And hearts will be glowing_  
_When loved ones are near_  
_It's the most wonderful time of the year_

* * *

 

Scott sighed loudly, eyeing the two pieces of clothing warily. There was either a cute purple dress with lots of ribbons or the blue one with puffy sleeves and a lot of tulle. So it was between Rapunzel of Cinderella? He really didn’t know which of the two Disney princesses was his niece’s favourite. Which dress would she prefer for Christmas?

Scott sighed again. It was only November 12th, but he was already deep in the Christmas shopping. The Monday before, he had spent the whole morning shopping for gifts for his students at the rink. This week, it was for his nieces and nephews. He simply had no time to waste.

The whole Moir family was crazy for Christmas and he simply loved it. His two older brothers had fulfilled their mother’s wish of being surrounded by many grandkids by giving her 6 grandchildren so far. It brought so many joy to the Moir household, but it was also a hassle when Christmas came. He knew he wasn’t obligated to spoil his nieces and nephews like he did, but he couldn’t help himself; he loved them all so much.

So there he was, on November 12th, Christmas shopping, trying to find the perfect princess costume for Charlotte, his brother Charlie’s oldest kid. At 8 years old, she was full on her princess phase, having watched all the Disney movies more times than it was imaginable.

She had asked Santa for a princess dress and Scott had assured his brother that he was taking care of it. He had grown as a figure skater and since males were scarce in that sport, he had had many girl friends over the years. He thought he knew a thing or two about princesses and dresses.

After another good 5 minutes of hesitation, he finally made his mind and bought both dresses. His niece could never be too spoiled.

His bags in hand, Scott made his way to the food court. It was half past twelve and he was simply starving. Just like every week, he had his Monday morning off from the rink and he had reserved it for shopping. After hitting Toys’r’us for his youngest nephews Thomas and Mathew then, the Disney store for the dresses, he was a little tired.

Scott stopped at Kim’s to get himself one of the famous wonton soup before finding an empty table where he sat, resting his numerous bags on an empty chair. He loved to come to the mall to eat at lunch, especially during Christmas time. Since it was close to the rink where he worked as a figure skating coach, he came quite often.

As he took his first spoonful of soup, Scott smiled, seeing the carollers entering the food court. Oh how he loved Christmas!

He loved the snow storms that leave two feet of fluffy pure white snow to build snowmen and forts with.

He loved the enthusiasm of the retailers in the stores, trying to give wishful advice to complete strangers.

He loved the strong odors of sweet spices that floated in the air whenever he walked by bakeries or cosmetics stores. It always made his mouth water at the thought of his mother’s famous gingerbread cookies and spicy hot chocolate.

He loved to decorate his Christmas tree and he loved the fresh scent of a natural tree. It gave so much warmth to a room.

He was the type of people who would love if he could simply skip Halloween only so he could enjoy the holidays earlier.

The mall especially, was one of the best place to be at during the holidays. Scott loved how it was always so cheerful; tinsels in the shop windows, twinkling lights, mistletoe, Christmas trees. He loved to watch the children waiting in line in front of Santa’s castle, all excited to share their Christmas wishes.

And the carollers, he loved the carollers. They always sang the same songs over and over again, but he didn’t mind. He loved to hear them. Plus, he knew that at that mall they sang to raise money for the children’s hospital so it was all worth it.

As they approached his table, singing the good old song The Holy and the Ivy, Scott looked at his surroundings and saw the woman next to him take out a pair of earplugs. Scott looked at her, baffled. How could someone not want to listen to the carollers?

Suddenly he remembered her. He knew her face was familiar. She was the woman he had seen the week before. The woman who had looked so uneased when her table had been invaded by the very same carollers. The one with whom he had tried to interact, asking her if she liked Christmas music. The one who had never really answered to him.

Of course he remembered her. How could he forget someone who seemed to hate Christmas? It was quite… unsettling for him; unfamiliar territory for sure. It was not something he understood, at all.

“You still don’t like Christmas music, eh?” Scott said, trying to make conversation with her. He was curious to know more about her and why she seemed to dislike the music so strongly.

The woman looked at him warily, earplugs in hand. “Hum, no I, not really,” she answered politely before sticking her earplugs back into her ears.

Scott’s smiled faded at the gesture. So much for trying to engage with that woman. She seemed to be the embodiment of the Grinch.

He went back to his wonton soup, listening to the music a little less cheerfully. He didn’t have a lot of time to ruminate though, because soon his phone rang, interrupting his lunch time.

Scott looked at the caller ID and sighed. He didn’t know if he was in the mood to answer to the person who was calling. He debated ignoring the call, but guilt won the battle and he answered anyway.

“Hey mom, how are you?” Scott asked.

“Scott! I’m so glad to talk to you. I have a question for you,” his mother started and Scott rolled his eyes. He knew what it was about: Christmas. As much as he loved Christmas, it was nothing compared to his mother. He swore the woman lived the whole year for the holidays. Ever since November 1st, she had been calling him every two days to ask when he was flying in to Ilderton, how much days he was staying, if he would be there for the traditional Moir hockey game, if he planned to take the kids sliding down the hill on the 23rd and so on.

But most of all, she wanted to know if his girlfriend loved turkey, if she had any allergies, if she would appreciate a nice sweater as a gift, if she loved skating, if she would love to help making the gingerbread house and the sugar cookies with the kids and so on.

He could understand her enthusiasm; he hadn’t introduced anyone to his family in years. Not because he didn’t want any woman to meet his family, but because he had no interest in anyone. How could he present someone to his mother if he hadn’t had date in more than three years?

But his mother was a really persistent woman. Plus, everybody in his family had been probing for a while now, trying to get him to admit that he was seeing someone in hiding or something. And because he was more than fed up with everyone from his parents, to his cousins, passing by the neighbours, asking him about his love life, he had decided a few days ago to do the one thing he had promised himself he would never do; he had lied to his mother and told her he had met someone and that she was coming for Christmas.

Ever since he had lied, his mother was purely ecstatic, calling all the time to ask questions about his new girlfriend, pretexting the need to prepare for Christmas, but really, she was trying to get the name of the mysterious woman.

“Yes mom, what is it?” Scott said, taking a sip of his iced tea.

“Well, I don’t know how to ask, but, I was wondering if your girlfriend would be willing to participate to the Secret Santa we’re doing this year?”

“Mom,” he groaned. He felt bad enough lying about having a girlfriend, he didn’t want to start adding more to the lie, pretexting that his fake girlfriend would be a part of the Secret Santa. All he had wanted by lying was to buy himself a little time. He just wanted to keep up the charade until Christmas. When time came, he would just have to lie again and say he and the girl hadn’t worked out or something.

But his mom was getting insistent.

“What? Is it such a weird question? I just want to know if she will participate? Your cousin Cara is going to organize the drawing of the names and we just need to know if we have to write her name down.” his mother asked on an enthusiastic tone.

“I don’t know mom, I, I, isn’t it weird to ask her to be part of such a familial tradition when we only have been dating for a few weeks?” Scott tried, already knowing that his mother wouldn’t buy it.

“Scott! If you bring the girl for Christmas, you include her in the Secret Santa! We don’t want to seem like a rude family by excluding her from our traditions!” his mother chastised.

“Alright mom, include her,” he rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

“Really! Oh Scott! It’s amazing!” his mother exclaimed at the end of the line.

Scott rubbed at his neck nervously, “Yes, hum, sorry mom! I got to go!” he said, hurriedly hanging up before his mother had time to ask for her name.

Groaning soundly, Scott took his head in his hands.

“You shouldn’t lie to your mom,”

Scott jumped when he heard someone talking from besides him. He turned around swiftly, surprised to see the Grinch-y gorgeous woman talking to him. She had taken off her earplugs and was looking at him with a coy smile.

“Why do you think I was lying?” Scott asked, a little offended that the woman couldn’t believe he indeed had someone to bring home for Christmas.

“Because judging by how uneased you looked, it’s either that or you really don’t like your girlfriend,” she teased, winking at him.

Scott chuckled. She really had seen right through him; “Alright, you got me. I lied.”

“Why?” she asked.

Scott looked at her, curious. Minutes ago, he had tried making conversation only to see his attempt refuted when the woman had put on her earplugs, aka the best non-verbal message to say one isn’t interested, but the next moment there she was, inquiring about why he had felt the need to lie to his mother about his relationship status. So apparently Christmas was a no-go, but personal feelings were okay to discuss.

“I lied because she has been asking the very same question for months, which is if I met someone, and every time I say no, I feel like I’m making her sad. By lying I’m saving myself the trouble of having to answer to that very same question every two day AND, I give my mother a little joy,” Scott explained, as if it was the most logic thing in the world.

The woman looked at him, still looking dubious; “And what happens when Christmas comes and you have no one to bring? Or what happens when your mother asks for her name to put in the Secret Santa and you don’t know what to say?”

Scott shrugged; “Simple, even if I don’t want to I’ll invent a name. By December 20th, I’ll tell her that the relationship didn’t work out. She’s gonna be a little sad, but by then it will already be Christmas and she’ll easily forget my failed relationship amidst all the celebration.”

“Alright, fair enough,” the woman replied before putting her earplugs back in her ears again. She opened her laptop and, as she was entering her password, Scott noticed the name on her screen; Tessa Virtue. So the Grinch had a name.

Scott opened the mouth to say something, anything, if only to tell her that it was impolite to put on earplugs while someone is talking to you, but he gave up. The carollers were coming back towards them and it was a safe guess to say that the pretty girl only wanted to save herself from more cheerful singing.

Shaking his head, Scott stood up. It was already one thirty and he needed to get back to the rink.


	3. November 16th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there!
> 
> Once again I want to thank you for the kind responses to this story! I'm really glad you seem to be loving it.
> 
> Today's chapter features Scott proposing a really peculiar deal to Tessa. What will she say?
> 
> Enjoy!

**Blue Christmas**

_I'll have a Blue Christmas without you_   
_I'll be so blue just thinking about you_   
_Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree_   
_Won't be the same dear, if you're not here with me_

_And when those blue snowflakes start falling_   
_That's when those blue memories start calling_   
_You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white_   
_But I'll have a blue, blue blue blue Christmas_

_You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white_   
_But I'll have a blue, blue Christmas_

* * *

 

Tessa was having the worst day of all.

It had all started when she had woken up that morning, too early if you asked her, only to find out with great frustration that she had run out of coffee. She remembered writing it down on her grocery list, but she had probably forgotten it when she had last shopped.

Then, she had sat into her car only to discover that the windows were all frozen from the inside. She had to sit and wait for them to defrost for what felt like hours. Did she already say how much she hated winter and the holidays?

Since she had lost so much time waiting for the stupid ice to melt, she had found herself late and didn’t have time to stop for coffee on her way to work.

So with still no caffeine running through her veins to fully help her wake up, she had walked in her office that morning only to come face to face with a giant poster of Amy posing in her new Christmas line. Velvet dresses, sequins and black mesh, all that on the too perfect body of her ex-boyfriend’s fiancé.

“What is this?” she asked lividly to Kaitlyn, as her friend joined her in front of the poster, arms crossed.

“That is your ex-boyfriend’s fiancé wearing your new Christmas collection,” Kaitlyn stated calmly.

“I can see that, but what I want to know is what it’s doing in the middle of the hall and most of all, how it happened? I don’t remember authorizing having her to model the collection? I thought we hired Anna for that?” Tessa said through gritted teeth, trying to keep her calm.

Year after year she naively allowed herself to think that there was nothing Ryan could come up with anymore to make her lose her mind, but she was always proven wrong. Amidst all his flaws, if there was something that Ryan didn’t lack, it certainly was creativity.

“Ah Tessa! Good morning! Yes, we did choose Anna last week, but then I thought, why not hire Amy? She is so perfect for this!” Ryan said as he came in from behind her, his too white teeth mocking her as he smiled hypocritically at her.

Tessa took in a big breath; “Ryan, I don’t’ understand, we had both decided to have Anna model for this,”

“Yes, but I changed my mind. Why not hire Amy when we always have her close by and ready to pose for us?” he asked, feigning innocence.

Feeling her blood boil in anger, Tessa glared at him; “Because we take decisions together! You’re not the only one who has a say in this! We can’t have only one model for everything I design! And because Anna was already hired! I had her sign a contract Ryan! That counts! She isn’t going to be happy that we, you, canceled her contract!”

“Jeez, relax Tess! I took care of everything with her manager,” he said, rolling his eyes and disappearing down the hall.

Tessa looked at Kaitlyn, helpless.

“I’m so sorry Tessa, I can’t believe the stunts he pulls,” Kaitlyn said, putting a comforting hand on Tessa’s shoulder.

Tessa groaned; “Hurgh! Why can’t he just sell me his parts? Why does he have to keep running everything? It’s not like he has any interest in fashion anyway! In models maybe, but certainly not in fashion!”

“Because he knows you’re better than him. He doesn’t like the fact that you’re doing so well after he left you, so he’s trying to make you as miserable as he can,” Kaitlyn explained.

“Well he’s wrong. I am not doing so well,” Tessa shook her head.

“I think you’re being a little unfair. Look at all you’ve done Tess! You built this amazing company without his help, no matter what he tries to make you think. You always come to work with a smile and everybody loves you. And what about the fashion show you’re organizing for charity? It’s really great Tessa,” Kaitlyn said, trying to put some sense back in her friend.

Tessa was about to answer, feeling a little bit better, when Ryan came back, taking away all her happiness again; “By the way Tessa, we haven’t received your answer yet about whether or not you’re coming to the engagement party and if you’re bringing a plus one. We really need an answer soon and, just between you and me, it would look a little rude if you decided to skip it,”

Tessa looked at him, baffled. Ryan was just too happy to point out that she didn’t have anyone to accompany her to the party.

She was seeing red and she didn’t trust herself to speak. She knew that if she opened her mouth, nothing good would come out of it. So she simply walked to her office, closing the door behind her loudly. She sat at her desk, taking her head in both hands. When was her ex going to give her a break? She was going insane.

She heard a knock at the door and groaned; “What?” she mumbled, face hidden in her hands.

“Tess? It’s me, Kaitlyn,” she heard her call from behind the door.

“Come in,” she sighed.

“Tess, are you okay?” Kaitlyn asked on a caring tone.

Tessa shook her head; “Not really, I, I just need a break. I really need something to change my mind.”

“Do you want to go out for lunch with me today? Sushi? I’m buying” Kaitlyn suggested.

Tessa appreciated the offer, but she knew that on Fridays Kaitlyn usually ate with her boyfriend. Plus, she really needed time to herself; time to think. So she chose to spend her lunch time at the mall instead. She craved her favourite wonton soup. It always made her feel better.

She made the quick walk to the mall, went to the food court and ordered her usual at Kim’s before choosing a somewhat isolated table. She was about to put on her earplugs to cut off all the noise coming from the loud shoppers, the cooking at the various stands and of course, the obnoxious carollers, when she was interrupted by someone.

“Hi!”

She looked next to her and saw a man around her age who looked familiar. She couldn’t quite say where she had seen him though.

“Hum, hi?” she said in response, more as a question than a salutation.

“It’s me, the guy who lied to his mother?” he said and suddenly Tessa felt really bad.

“Of course! I’m sorry, my head is somewhere else today. I’ve had a rough day,” she apologized.

“Crazy carollers chasing you again?” the guy tried to joke, pointing at her earplugs, and Tessa smiled weakly.

She shook her head; “Not this time, it would be easier to escape though,”

“Want to talk about it?” he suggested, taking a spoonful of his own soup. Apparently they shared an appreciation for Asiatic cuisine. “Huh, I’m Scott, by the way,” he added, extending his hand to shake.

Tessa took it, but looked at him warily. She felt like it would be a little weird to share her feelings with a stranger. Granted, she had met him twice before; at the dumpsters when she was being chased by the carollers the week before, and earlier in the week, when she had overheard his conversation with his mother. She already knew a few things about him, more than he knew about her. All he could probably guess about her was that she hated Christmas.

“Hum, I don’t even know you that much,” she said, feeling a little hesitant.

“Right, sorry, I didn’t want to bother you. I guess sometimes I just feel like it’s easier to talk to a stranger,” the guy said, shrugging.

Tessa considered what he said. There was some truth to it. Confiding in a stranger could be easier than talking to family or friends. There was no pressure, no strings attached. It was a little like emptying your heart to a psychologist. Maybe it was what she needed; an anonymous ear to listen.

“I’m having some hum, trouble, at work,” Tessa began.

Scott gestured to the seat in front of her and Tessa nodded. He took his tray and changed place to seat at her table.

“What kind of trouble?” Scott inquired, now looking at her.

“Well, my ex also happens to be my business partner,” she explained, figuring it was enough for Scott to see what was the source of her problems.

“Ouch, I can already see this going south,” Scott laughed.

Tessa shook her head, amused by his statement; “Yeah, well, let’s just say that every time the fiscal year comes to an end, he tries to make my life as miserable as he can.”

“Is this why you hate Christmas with passion?”

Tessa chuckled; “Something like that, yes. Every year since we broke up, which was three years ago, he’s been trying to make me go crazy so I give up and sell him my parts of the company. This year, he hired his fiancé to pose in my clothing line,”

Scott’s eyes grew round; “We can’t say he doesn’t try hard!”

Tessa laughed; “That’s the least we can say,”

“Have you always hated Christmas that much? Before your ex and everything?” Scott asked, taking a sip of his ice tea.

“No, I used to love Christmas! When I was little, I always baked a gingerbread house with my mother and sister. We decorated the tree together and my brothers made the biggest snow fort for me to play in. It was amazing. But ever since we all grew up and moved away it’s not the same. The family is spread all over Canada and my siblings have spouses and kids. It’s too hard to get together for both Christmas and the New Year. So we usually all get together on December 31st, but we celebrate Christmas by ourselves.”

“So what are you doing this year for Christmas?” Scott asked her.

Tessa blushed. She didn’t like that question. She knew what most people thought of the fact that she didn’t have anything planned. People usually didn’t understand that, but it wasn’t like she had a choice. Plus, she liked the little bit of quiet she found at Christmas; “I’m huh, not set yet,” she said, trying to avoid an honest answer.

Scott eyed her, as if he didn’t believe her; “Are you alone for Christmas?”

She shrugged as if it was no big deal. And it wasn’t, to her at least; “Yes I am. I’m probably gonna end watching cheesy romantic movies and stuffing my face with take out and wine.”

“This is the saddest thing I ever heard,” Scott stated, dead serious.

Tessa giggled at the face he made. She was used to it. It would be the fourth year in a row that she would spend Christmas alone. Her father was with his new wife. Her mother spent Christmas on vacation in France with some friends. Jordan was with her boyfriend’s family and her two brothers were with their respective wife’s families. So it was just her. The first year had been hard, but ever since it was getting a little more supportable.

“It’s not sad,” she said, “It’s resourcing.”

Scott raised his eyebrows, questioning; “Resourcing?”

“Yes. I get time to think.”

“You have 364 other days to think. Christmas should be about celebration.”

“Yes well, like you’ve seen, I’m not really a fan of the holidays.”

“Alright,”

“What about you? What are you doing for the holidays, you Christmas fan?” Tessa asked, wanting to tease him a little.

“Well, I’m bringing my girlfriend home for Christmas,” he started and Tessa laughed at the little bit of shame she saw in his eyes.

Tessa nodded, chuckling “Right, your fake girlfriend for the Secret Santa,”

Tessa noticed Scott’s ears turn bright red at her words.

“Yeah… about that… can I be honest with you?” he started and Tessa suddenly felt a little hesitant. She wondered what he was going to say.

Tessa looked at him, a little apprehensive; “Hum, maybe?”

Scott took in a big breath; “Alright, so, I might have lied some more to my mom.” He began.

“What do you mean?”

“Hum, well, she kept asking me for the name of my girlfriend to put in the Secret Santa drawing and huh, well I said Tessa Virtue.”

“What? How do you even know my name?” Tessa cried.

Who was that guy? Some crazy stalker? Now that she thought about it, it was a little weird that she had run into him so many times in such a short time. Yes, it was a mall and many people ate there on a regular basis just like her, but maybe Scott had spotted her. Maybe it was like in one of those movies where creepy men spot a girl and stalk her before kidnapping her or killing her. Maybe Scott had pretended running into her spontaneously while really he had been following her around for days. Maybe he was going to follow her home and attack her or something. She wasn’t comfortable all of a sudden.

“Boy that’s going to sound weird,” Scott said, shaking his head.

Tessa didn’t say anything, frozen in place. She let him talk, curious to hear what he had to say.

“I saw your name on your laptop the other day and so when my mother call, it’s just the first thing that came to my mind,” Scott said, cringing.

“So you told your mom you were bringing Tessa Virtue for Christmas?” she said. She didn’t know what to think. She was quite relieved to hear he had a plausible explanation, but it was still a really weird situation.

Scott laughed; “Yeah, oh I’m so sorry, I had no idea I would see you again. I thought you would always be this stranger I barely talked to,”

Tessa chuckled, feeling her heart slow down. She needed to stop watching scary movies. It made her mind imagine stupid things. Scott didn’t have the profile of a serial killer at all.

“Yeah well, I can understand why you did it. It was the first things that came to your mind. And at least now I don’t think you’re a stalker or something anymore,”

She saw Scott’s eyes grow round at her statement and he coughed on his spoonful of soup, broth splashing in his tray; “God no! I’m not a stalker I swear. Jeez, I’m sorry if I scared you,”

Tessa laughed out loud at his reaction; “You scared me a little, but it’s all forgotten now,”

Scott shook his head; “You must think I’m some pathetic guy, needing to lie to my mom like that about my love life,”

“No, I understand why you did it. Being single at this time of the year can be hard, especially when people keep prying. I myself have to go to my ex’s engagement party and I keep getting asked if I’m bringing someone. I’m starting to think your idea of inventing a fake relationship isn’t so bad,” Tessa said, playing around with the few pieces of leek floating around in her soup’s broth.

When she finished talking but Scott didn’t answer, she raised her head to look at him, curious to see why he was keeping silence. When she was his expression, deep in concentration, she passed a hand in front of his eyes, trying to get his attention back; “Earth to Scott?”

“Yeah, sorry, I just…” he looked at her intently and she felt herself blushing at being scrutinized like that under his gaze.

“What?”

“I just had a crazy idea…”

She didn’t know him a lot, but she sure knew that his ideas didn’t seem always thought through; lying to his mother and inventing a fake girlfriend was an example.

“I was wondering if maybe we could make some sort of… contract, together?”

“What kind of contract?” Tessa asked warily.

“I mean, you’re all alone for Christmas and for your ex’s engagement party. And I have a fake girlfriend situation that I need to take care of. A fake girlfriend who happens to have your name… So what about some sort of contract to socially navigate Christmas together?”

“Socially navigate Christmas together?”

“Yeah, like a fake relationship?”

“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” Tessa replied, not sure if she should stay to hear what Scott had to say, or if she needed to run as fast as she could, never to come back to the mall.

“It is, and I totally understand if you don’t want to, but it would really help me, and it could help you!”

“What if I really love spending my time alone? What if I don’t really care about going to that party alone?”

“Somehow I doubt it because you wouldn’t have mentioned it, but if you do, I totally understand. Plus, you could spend some time forgetting about your ex and his schemes and I promise to make you love Christmas again.”

“You want to make me love Christmas again?” Tessa asked, bemused. Who was that man? Coming in like this, claiming to know her name and proposing her such a weird contract.

“Yes, because I think you could use it. It’s a little rude to hide underneath your earplugs like that, Mrs Grinch” Scott winked.

She blushed at his accusation. He was right though; she hadn’t been a model of courtesy for the last few days.

“If I say yes, what would it imply?” she asked, hearing Kailtyn’s voice in her head, telling her to put herself out there, daring her to say yes to new experiences. She had been keeping herself isolated for years now. Not going out, avoiding places where she could meet new people. She always blamed it on a work overload, but really she was just afraid of what could happen. After the way Ryan had treated her, she feared she’d just end up in the same situation again.

“I’m proposing a strictly business contract. It’s a service for a service. You pose as my girlfriend for the holidays and in exchange I can accompany you to that engagement party.”

It was tempting, but also daunting. She needed time to think about it.

“Can I take a few days to think about it?” she asked Scott, chewing on her bottom lip.

“Of course, just like you would do with any other contract,” Scott nodded solemnly.

“Alright, can I have your number or something? So I can call you to tell you about my decision?”

Scott nodded, taking his napkin to write down his number. Tessa took it in her hand, stuffing it at the bottom of her purse. She’d think about it later.


	4. November 17th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello to you all!
> 
> Once again, I want to thank you for the kind comments you're leaving me about this story. It makes me write faster to know that updates are awaited :) 
> 
> Enjoy today's new chapter!

**I’ll be Home for Christmas**

_I'll be home for Christmas_   
_You can plan on me_   
_Please have snow and mistletoe_   
_And presents on the tree_   
_Christmas Eve will find me_   
_Where the lovelight gleams_   
_I'll be home for Christmas_   
_If only in my dreams_

 

* * *

 

Scott had last seen Tessa Virtue the day before and, to be honest, he really thought that he would never see her again.

After proposing her that “contract” at the mall, he felt like he had ruined everything. It had seemed brilliant at first, but after he had time to think about it, he knew it probably wasn’t his best idea. He was alone, so was Tessa, and they both needed someone to socially navigate Christmas with, but they also were two complete strangers. Yes, they had talked a little the day before, but they knew next to nothing about each other. He didn’t even know where Tessa was from, what kind of company she owned, if she had a cat, all of those details that friends or at least acquaintances usually know about each other.

She also knew next to nothing about him. He had mostly listened to her talking, feeling that she needed some sort of support after the bad day she seemed to be having. He hadn’t even told her about why he had needed to lie to his mother; why he hadn’t had a date in more than three years.

It was not something, or rather someone, he loved to talk about.

Her name was Jenna and their break up had happened years before, but he was in no hurry to find another love interest, no matter the pressure his mom was putting on him. It wasn’t that he wasn’t over his ex. No, he just wasn’t ready to put himself out there again, not after the way things had ended between the two of them.

But no matter how many times Scott had repeated this, his mother, being the kind-hearted woman that she was, thought he was lonely and it was why she always insisted for him to find someone. She kept sending him not so cryptic messages about daughters of friends who were single or about cute divorced mothers of the children she coached at the rink. She only wanted him to be happy, but he really wasn’t interested in finding someone yet. It annoyed him a little that his mother couldn’t understand it.

So it was why he had invented that lie about having a girlfriend named Tessa Virtue.

When he had been seating in front of her at the food court, he had thought that because he and Tessa knew so little about each other, that she was the best candidate to play his fake girlfriend. There would be no expectations or anything. Just two strangers exchanging services. Tessa didn’t seem like the type of girl who would have wanted anything more than what he was offering; a social companion for the holidays. When December 26th would have come around, they could have parted ways in peace, both content that they had found in each other what they needed. And if he could have helped her regain her love for Christmas in the process, it would have been a win-win situation.

But he understood why she hadn’t called back and why she probably never would.

First, calling her by her name when he wasn’t supposed to know it was a dumb-ass move. He had gotten her name by looking at her laptop and even if he had told her that, he feared that he hadn’t appeased all her fears of him being some sort of crazy stalker or something. She had told him she felt reassured, but he didn’t know if it was completely true.

Second, she seemed like a pretty independent woman. She probably didn’t really need his help and she didn’t seem to have any interest in regaining her love for Christmas. Her gain in the deal wasn’t as big as what he was asking from her. From her point of view, the contract was probably not that interesting. Granted she had hinted about needing a date for her ex’s engagement party, but she had probably more choices than he did.

So yes, Scott had lost hope that Tessa Virtue would ever call him back.

Until she did, on the morning of November 17th, less than 24 hours after his proposition.

He was on his way to the rink for an early morning practice when his phone rang. Turning on the Bluetooth speaker, Scott answered on the first ring, not recognizing the number flashing on his screen.

“Hi Scott? It’s Tessa, Tessa Virtue, the girl from the mall?” she said hesitantly, “I was wondering if huh, the… contract was still a possibility for you?”

He let out a big relieved sigh at her words, too happy to hear back from her. Really, it was just because he didn’t want to deceive his mother, not because he had thought about how pretty her laugh was all night long.

So with a quick yes, he had given her the name and the directions to a restaurant where he planned to meet her the very same night to make their “contract” official. Tessa agreed to meet him and Scott raised his fist in triumph. Things were taking a turn for the better.

His practice at the rink went in a blur. The skaters were all getting ready for the national championship in January so there was a lot of work to do. For the first time in years, he only participated half-heartedly, his mind already thinking about the night he had ahead of him. He surprised himself by thinking about how he would dress up, which was weird since it wasn’t a date; only a business meeting. It wasn’t liked he wanted to impress Tessa or anything.

Six o’clock eventually came and when he arrived at Foxy’s, Scott was more than ready. He was well determined on making Tessa Virtue his business partner. Together, they would face Christmas and all its expectations.

Foxy’s was one of his favourite place to eat at in downtown Montreal. It was chic yet not stuffy. He hoped Tessa would appreciate the place he had selected. He needed to be on her good side if he wanted her to accept his offer.

When Scott entered the restaurant, he was pleased to see that it was not too full. The heavy snow that was falling outside was probably playing in his favor, people preferring to stay in their warm houses instead of braving the cold.

After he took off his coat, the waiter led him to a table in the back of the restaurant. He looked at his watch nervously as he sat. There was still ten minutes left before 6. Tessa would arrive at any moment.

He ordered them a bottle of white wine and took out the pile of sheets on which he had printed the contract.

“Hey Scott,”

He looked up quickly to see Tessa standing in front of their table, clutching at her purse strap in a nervous manner.

“Hi Tessa,” he said, standing up to get her chair for her.

“Oh you don’t need to,” she said, waving a hand to dismiss his gesture, but Scott insisted.

“Alright, thank you,” she said softly, taking place at the table.

To say she was beautiful in her emerald turtle neck and black dress pants was an understatement, but Scott wasn’t there for her good looks. He needed her for business, that was it.

“So I brought you a copy of the contract,” he started, handing her the pile of paper.

Tessa took it, eyeing him weirdly. “You really printed a real contract?” she asked.

“Yes, I mean, this is a business arrangement. I help you, you help me, nothing personal has to be involved. We need to set clear rules if we want to make sure we both end up gaining what we came looking for in the first place.” He explained.

“Oh, okay,” she said, “And what is that?”

“Well for me, it’s a fake girlfriend to convince my mom that she has to stop worrying about me and for you, well that’s a date to your ex’s engagement party, or anything else you want me to add in the contract. I’m honestly surprised you called me back. I thought you weren’t interested,” he stated, fidgeting with his pen.

The waiter came by with their bottle of wine and served them each a glass. They kept silence all the time, Scott wondering what Tessa’s answer would be. He really didn’t know what had made her change her mind.

When the waiter left their table, she answered; “My colleagues are all happily engaged or married and they keep sending me those pity smiles and pity invites. People keep tip-toeing around my ex’s engagement because they don’t want to offend me. It’s been almost four years, I’m tired of feeling bad and being seen like the girl who never got over it. I can’t take my ex’s satisfied grins anymore.”

Scott nodded. He understood what it was to have everybody pry and ask about your love life. What Tessa was going through at work, he had to endure it with his family.

When he didn’t reply, Tessa added; “I must say that I never do things like this usually. It’s quite… spontaneous and unsettling, but maybe I need to learn how to do that.”

Scott laughed out loud; “Plus you need to learn how to love Christmas again!”

“That’s what you think. Maybe I’m not interested in loving Christmas again?” Tessa said, crossing her arms.

Scott raised his hands in mock surrender; “Alright, alright. But at least let me try?”

They spent the rest of diner exchanging their thoughts and opinion about the “rules” to write down in their contract. Scott was really pleased to see that Tessa thought along the same lines than he did; she wasn’t interested in anything other than a business arrangement.

It was decided that they wouldn’t spend time dwelling on their personal lives more than strictly necessary for their fake dating story to look real. No deep feelings were to be addressed. They would stay on light topics. Scott hated talking about feelings, especially the ones concerning his ex Jenna. He couldn’t be happier to see that Tessa also wanted to avoid talking about it.

They decided that they were to see each other at least twice a week to get to know each other fully, plus when it would be necessary for parties and such.

Scott had to accompany Tessa to her ex’s engagement party and Tessa was to go with Scott to Ilderton, his hometown, to spend a few days with his family during the holidays. One of the funny things they had learned while talking was that they were both from the same area in Ontario; Tessa from London and Scott from Ilderton.

“I feel like it’s not fair that I’m asking you to come for Christmas while you only need me for a night,” Scott stated when he looked at their schedule.

“Well, in exchange it means I can decide which movie we’ll go see next Saturday,” Tessa smiled, raising her glass.

“So we’re toasting to our deal?” Scott asked, smiling.

“Yes we are! To the contract!” Tessa said, but Scott put down his glass back on the table.

“Wait, a contract is so stiff, we need a name a little more… warm” Scott said, trying to find a brilliant idea.

“What about a promise?” Tessa suggested.

Scott really liked the idea. It was what it was; a promise to help each other out during Christmas; “The Mistletoe Promise!” he suggested with enthusiasm.

“Mistletoe?” Tessa laughed.

“Yeah, we need a touch of Christmas,” he winked.

“Alright, to the Mistletoe Promise!” Tessa said, knocking her glass with his.


	5. November 21st

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5 today! Enjoy!!! Thank you again for the kind comments you leave about this story :)

**Don’t Save it All for Christmas Day**

_Don't get so busy that you miss_   
_Giving just a little kiss_   
_To the ones you love_   
_Don't even wait a little while_   
_To give them just a little smile_   
_A little is enough_

_How many people are crying_   
_People are dying_   
_How many people are asking for love_

_So don't save it all for Christmas Day_   
_Find a way_   
_To give a little love everyday_   
_Don't save it all for Christmas Day_   
_Find your way_   
_'Cause holidays have come and gone_   
_But love lives on_   
_If you give on_   
_Love_

* * *

 

It was only Wednesday morning, but Tessa already couldn’t wait for the week to be over.

It had all started with problems in the organisation of her fashion show for charity. Judith, the planner that she had hired for the event, had finally gone tired of Ryan’s constant criticism and had decided on Monday morning to quit, leaving Tessa with a really impressive work overload.

She had jumped head first into that new load of work, arriving at 6 AM all week and not leaving the office until well passed 9 at night. Ryan, of course, was apparently too busy to offer his help on anything. Pushing Judith to quit had been his sole contribution.  
So with everything that had been going in her life, Tessa had completely forgotten about her and Scott’s contract. That was until a knock came at her office door that day, November 21st.

“Tess? Those came for you? I thought it was for Sarah since her boyfriend always sends those when he’s done something wrong, but she gave them back. The card is addressed to you,” said Kaitlyn as she came in her office, holding an enormous bouquet of yellow hydrangeas.

Tessa blushed from head to toe. She wasn’t used to receiving gifts and she certainly wasn’t used to be the center of attention. From her desk, she could see through the ajar door that some of her employees were shooting curious glances towards her office, probably wondering who had sent her the flowers. Everybody knew that she hadn’t had a anyone in her life since her break up with Ryan. Not even a single date.

“Thank you Kaitlyn,” she said, taking the bouquet from her friends’ arms. The flowers really were beautiful. She knew that they would brighten her office for sure.

The idea that someone, she knew it was probably Scott, had sent her flowers filled her with a warm feeling of… something. It was hard to describe and it frightened her a little. It had been a while since she had last felt like this.

“So… are you going to tell me who sent you those flowers?” Kaitlyn asked with a curious smile.

“Hum… yeah…” Tessa trailed off.

She didn’t even know if she should tell Kaitlyn the truth. She felt bad about lying to her best friend, but at the same time, she was also ashamed of admitting that she had to rely on a fake relationship to find herself a date for the holidays.

Kaitlyn kept telling her to put herself out there, to say yes to new experiences, to meet new people. Tessa was afraid of what she would think of her decision to have a fake boyfriend. What would she think of the promise she had made with Scott to help each other by pretending to date? She knew Kaitlyn would prefer if she dated real people instead of pretending.

“I huh, met someone,” Tessa said. It wasn’t really a lie. She had met Scott, just not in the way she knew Kaitlyn would think.

“Oh my god! Tess!” Kaitlyn squealed, jumping up and down in excitement.

“Shhh,” Tessa said, laughing and closing the door of her office. She knew it was too late though, the whole office was probably already gossiping about her new relationship.

“This is amazing!!! What’s his name? Where did you two meet?” her friend bombarded her with questions.

“His name is Scott and we met at the mall,” Tessa said.

She had once read that the best way to lie successfully was to stick to the truth as much as possible. It was what she intended to do. She just needed to remember to tell Scott about the story she was telling.

“At the mall? Is that why you’re always disappearing there for lunch?” Kaitlyn asked.

Tessa nodded; “I had huh, lunch, with him, the other day”

“Tell me more! How did you two got in touch for the first time?” Kaitlyn asked and Tessa sighed. She loved her friend, but she could be really curious sometimes. If she had really met someone she would have loved to share all the details of her new relationship. But talking about Scott only meant lying more to her best friend.

“We huh, I was trying to avoid Christmas carollers at the food court and he made some joke about me hating Christmas. He eats there quite often too and so we kept seeing each other. One day he asked if he could seat with me and that’s it,” Tessa said, once again sticking to the truth as much as she could.

“Tessa, you need to learn how to tell a story with more details, but it will suffice for now. When will I meet him? I can’t wait to meet him!” Kaitlyn exclaimed.

Tessa smiled. She was a little taken aback by her friend’s enthusiasm. When she had agreed to Scott’s proposition she hadn’t taken into consideration the fact that she would have her friend’s questions to answer to. What would she say to Kaitlyn when her and Scott’s contract came to an end? How would she explain her breakup to her friend? How could she lie to her best friend and confident for more than a month?

She suddenly was filled with doubts and didn’t know anymore if it had been such a good idea to accept Scott’s proposition.

“Tessa, will you have lunch with me today? Love, Scott”

Tessa raised her head at Kaitlyn’s voice; “What?”

“Your boy is asking if you’ll have lunch with him, how cute his that!” her friend said, handing her the card.

Tessa passed a nervous hand through her hair. She was head deep in work. Amy and Ryan were nowhere to be seen now that the planner had quit and she had to assume all the supplement work by herself. She really didn’t know if she could afford going out for lunch. She needed all the time she could get before the big event on December 14th. Her fashion show for charity was too important to her and there was still so much to do.

“Tessa Virtue, don’t tell me that you’re thinking about skipping your lunch date?” Kaitlyn eyed her severely, hands on her hips.

“I have tons of work to do Kait, I really need all the time I can find,” she tried, but knew her cause was helpless.

“If you don’t say yes he might never ask again Tess. You can’t have him think you’re not interested. Plus, you’ve been here almost 15 hours a day since Monday. Take a break, go with Scott, have fun!” her friend said, pushing Tessa out the door and giving her coat.

She guided her to the actual door of the office and didn’t leave until Tessa had put on her coat. She even made her text Scott in front of her to confirm him that she was coming.

Shaking her head, Tessa walked the short way to the mall. She couldn’t say that her friend didn’t care about her happiness!

When Tessa arrived at the food court, Scott was already there, waiting for her with two bowls of fuming hot wonton soup in front of him. She smiled softly as she reached the table he had saved for the both of them.

“Hey girlfriend!” Scott said on a cheerful tone as she took place in front of him.

“Hey to you,” Tessa replied, trying to tame down the weird sensation that had flooded her at his words. What was it with her today? Feeling all giddy or something. It was probably just because she hadn’t had a boyfriend for so long. Faking it with Scott made old suppressed feelings resurface; like the loneliness.

“I’m glad you could join me today, I was afraid that you had changed your mind or something since I haven’t heard for you in a while,” Scott said and Tessa felt bad.

She could see in the way he was fidgeting with his spoon that he was nervous. She really shouldn’t have ignored him for days. She remembered that he had texted her to wish her a good day on Monday, but she had never answered, too absorbed by her work overload. She had told herself she’d answer later to explain the situation, but she had forgotten all about it by lunchtime, Judith’s work keeping her extremely busy.

“I’m really sorry,” she apologized. “Something at work happened and I’ve had a crazy week so far.” She shook her head; “The flowers brightened my day though,” she admitted shyly.

“Yeah? I’m glad you liked them. Wanna talk about work?” Scott asked politely.

Tessa shook her head fervently. She was there to take a break forget all about work. She didn’t want to think about it until she was back at the office. For the moment, she simply wanted to take her mind off from work and enjoy her time with Scott. From the short moment she had spent with him, she knew he could be really funny.

“No, I want to talk about something else. Why don’t you tell me what I should expect from spending Christmas at the Moir’s?”

She laughed as she saw Scott’s smile grow at her question. As much as she hated Christmas, he seemed to adore it with an equal passion. Maybe by spending time with him he indeed would end up changing her mind about the holidays? She knew he would certainly try.

“Well, Christmas at the Moir’s isn’t simply about the 25th. It’s a whole 4 days thing,” he said with a proud expression gracing his features.

She had known that when they had made the “promise”, but hearing him say it out loud actually scared her a little. How was she going to survive to 4 whole days of festivities and glee? Four days of lies also.

Probably sensing her discomfort, Scott hurriedly said; “You can leave anytime you’ve had enough, you know?”

Tessa nodded. She knew that, he had already told her, but she was a woman of her word. When she said something she did it. She had told Scott she was going to be there and she would; for the whole damn thing, even if it made her uncomfortable.

“I know, but I’ll be there,” she reassured him.

Scott smiled; “Alright. So it usually starts on the 23rd with the cooking day. My mom and the kids build a gingerbread house and make sugar cookies in the morning and then, while she’s busy prepping her meat pies, we take the kids to slay down the hill in the backyard. Afterwards, we come back and drink hot chocolate.”

Tessa smiled. She used to make a gingerbread house with her mom too. It was a fond memory. She would actually have been excited if she hadn’t decided to turn into the Grinch sometime 4 years before.

“What about the 24th?”

“Well, on the 24th, we have a family hockey game at the park on the corner of the street. Then, we go back to my mom’s and put on some fancy clothes. We have a huge dinner for Christmas eve. Around 9, the kids go to bed and leave their homemade cookies for Santa. We stay up late and talk, play board games. The next morning, the kids all wake us up at 6 and we unwrap the gifts. Then we all eat waffles together and go outside again to play in the snow.”

That was a heavy schedule. Tessa hoped she’d be able to participate to everything.

“And on the last day?”

“The last day is quieter. My brother who lives in Alberta usually leaves in the morning with his family, but Charlie and I stay. We watch classic Christmas movies and basically have a lazy day,”

“It sounds…”

“Busy?”

“No, heart-warming,” Tessa said, truly meaning it.

Scott pretended to look shocked and gasped out loud.

Tessa laughed; “What? I’ve been a kid once. Just because I don’t like to celebrate Christmas now doesn’t mean I can’t imagine how fun it must be for your nieces and nephews.”

Scott smiled and winked; “I sure hope you’ll have fun too.”

“We’ll see,” Tessa teased, responding to Scott’s wink.

“And we won’t wait till the 23rd. I’ll make Christmas fun for you as soon as I can. Promise,”

She sure wondered what he had in mind.


	6. November 23rd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote as fast as I could to offer you this next chapter today :) Hope you all enjoy!

**These Are the Special Times**

_Oh, hey_  
_In these moments, moments of our lives_  
_All the world is ours_  
_And this world is so right_  
_You and I sharing this time together_  
_Sharing the same dream_  
_As time goes by we will find_

_These are the special times_  
_Times we'll remember_  
_These are the precious times_  
_The tender times we'll hold in our hearts forever_  
_These are the sweetest times_  
_These times together_  
_And through it all, one thing will always be true_  
_The special times are the times I share with you, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah_

_With each moment, moment passing by_  
_We'll make memories that will last all our lives_  
_As you and I travel through time together_  
_Living this sweet dream_  
_And every day we can say_

_These are the special times (these are the special times)_  
_Times we'll remember (times we'll remember)_  
_These are the precious times_  
_The tender times we'll hold in our hearts forever_  
_These are the sweetest times_  
_These times together_  
_And through it all, one thing will always be true_  
_The special times are the times I share with you_

_These tender moments_  
_When heaven is so close_  
_These are the moments that I know_

* * *

 

It was Saturday, a week after Scott and Tessa had made that promise/contract that they would navigate the social events of the holidays by each other’s side.

Scott had to admit that the first half of the week had been hard because he really didn’t know anymore if the fake relationship thing had been a good idea. They didn’t know each other that much after all.

On Monday morning, he had texted Tessa to wish her a good day at work, knowing how her ex, and colleague (he still didn’t understand that part) could give her some trouble. He had been quite upset to see that on Wednesday morning she had yet to answer to his message.

So after two days without news, in a totally uncharacteristic desperate manner, he had called the florist to send her that bouquet of yellow flowers directly to her office.

He had been overstepping by doing all that, he knew it, but his mother had just called, asking about what was Tessa’s favorite meal (he honestly had no idea), and he had panicked, thinking the whole plan was going to burst in his face. At that moment, he had felt like he absolutely needed her.

He had felt really stupid after making the call to the florist though. It was a desperate move, sending her those flowers with an invitation for lunch as if he absolutely needed her to say yes. Sending it to her office, knowing it would put her on the spot and force her to agree to spend lunch with him. They had agreed on two “dates” a week. Never had they talked about sending gifts, text messages or spontaneous lunch dates.

Realizing that, he had been filled with shame. Who was he becoming? Some softy who couldn’t be independent? A borderline stalker who wouldn’t leave Tessa alone while she clearly didn’t want to interact with him? He didn’t recognize himself.

He had almost called the florist to cancel his order, but Tessa had texted him first, thanking him for the flowers and saying yes to his invitation for diner. He had to admit he was quite surprised. For a few days, he really had thought that she had changed her mind about their plan.

Good thing she didn’t.

They really had a great time sharing lunch at the mall and he hoped Tessa had appreciated it too. He also hoped that he hadn’t completely scared her with his description of all the Christmas-y things she would have to do with the whole Moir clan.

It didn’t seem to be the case though because ever since their lunch date, they had never stopped texting. It had all started with a joke he had sent her; a picture of a girl dressed up as a Christmas tree. Scott had sent it to Tessa, asking her if she’d like to get it for Christmas with the Moirs. After that, they had never stopped sending each other jokes and texting all night long.

When Saturday came, they had their first real fake date planned; a night at the cinema. Scott was actually pretty impatient. He was excited at the prospect of spending the night with Tessa, even if it was to see the Nutcracker, a movie she had chosen. So excited that he had some trouble concentring all day long at the rink. All he could think about was how hilarious Tessa could sometimes be and how fun it would be to spend the night out with her.

“Scott? Are you even listening?” he heard Patrice call him and Scott felt his ears turn red. He wasn’t. Hadn’t listen for a few minutes and didn’t even know what the skaters were currently working on…

“I… huh… no, sorry,” he admitted sheepishly.

Patrice sighed, “Alright, kids, would you mind giving us a few minutes?” he asked to the two junior skaters who were looking at Scott sternly. Scott couldn’t really blame them. Back in the days, when he was still a skater, he too was pissed when his coach wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing.

“Where’s your head today Scott?” Patrice asked, sitting on the cold wooden bench near the boards.

Scott joined him; “I don’t know,” he lied.

But with the way that Patrice was looking at him, Scott could tell that his fellow coach and old mentor wasn’t buying what he was saying. He knew him too well to not be able to tell when Scott was lying. Plus, he wasn’t a good liar. He really needed to work on that if he wanted to sell the whole fake relationship thing to his mom…

“Scott,” Patrice scolded, asking him for the truth.

“Alright, if I tell you, do you promise that you won’t judge nor tell me that it’s a bad idea?” he asked. He really didn’t need someone chastising him about how bad it was to lie to his mother. He also didn’t need anyone trying to convince him to meet a real girlfriend instead of faking a relationship. He just wasn’t there yet. He didn’t want to involve his heart. It was why the fake dating was perfect. It prevented them from involving real feelings.

“Promise,” Patrice said, hand on his heart.

“Well, I met this girl,” he started and immediately saw Patrice’s hopeful reaction. “Don’t get your hopes up, we are just business partners,”

“Business partners?” Patrice asked, raising his eyebrows.

Scott sighed; “Yeah… we agreed to socially navigate Christmas together. I’ll go with her to her ex’s engagement party and she’ll come with me to Ilderton at my parents’ house for Christmas.”

When Patrice didn’t say anything, Scott rolled his eyes; “What is it?”

“I don’t understand why you made some sort of agreement with a girl to be each other’s date for Christmas, but you call it a business agreement? Isn’t it called a romantic relationship?” Patrice said.

Scott smiled at Patrice’s sarcasm. He should have expected that kind of reaction from him.

“Not if we are in a fake relationship.”

Patrice looked at him, surprised; “Why would you need a fake relationship for?”

“Because I lied to my mom and told her I had met someone. Then I met this girl who was also alone, but not looking for a relationship, just like me. We thought we could make it work. A service for a service” Scott explained.

Patrice simply nodded, a dubious expression on his face.

“You think this is stupid” Scott stated flatly.

Patrice shook his head; “Nah, I think it might be just what you need.”

“What I need?”

Scott didn’t understand. He really had expected a sermon from Patrice. He clearly hadn’t thought he would condone the whole “lying to his mother about his love life” thing.

“Yeah, who knows what this will evolve into,” Patrice hinted and Scott scoffed.

“Yeah, but no,” he said, feeling the need to set his colleague’s hope right. There was no way that his business partnership with Tessa was going to evolve into anything else than it was supposed to. They were partners in crime against Christmas and its expectations, nothing more. When January would roll around, they would go their separate ways. That was the deal. No matter how pretty and funny Tessa was.

“Let’s just wait and see,” Patrice said, giving a friendly tap on Scott’s shoulder before calling the skaters back again.

Scott was left feeling a little offended. Why didn’t Patrice believe him? 

* * *

 

That night, Scott cursed Patrice throughout the whole movie.

He just couldn’t get his colleague’s words out of his mind. He really felt like he had been clear with Tessa, but what if he hadn’t? They had said that they wouldn’t address personal feelings, that they would stay business partners that was all. But had they really been clear about the fact that it out of question for them to develop feelings for each other? He wasn’t ready. He knew it had been a while since Jenna, years really. But it still wasn’t enough. His heart wasn’t ready.

He couldn’t concentrate during the movie. He watched the screen, but didn’t register anything that was happening. There was bright colors and great music, but really, he didn’t know a single thing about what was going on. His attention was directed solely towards Tessa. She didn’t seem to be the prey to the same doubts than him though. She kept her eyes riveted to the screen the whole time and he could swear he heard her mumbling some of the songs under her breath.

“What was your favorite part?” Tessa asked cheerfully as they were walking towards his car after the movie.

“I can’t pinpoint one favorite part, but I really loved the visual of the whole thing,” Scott said. He couldn’t pinpoint a favorite part because he hadn’t been paying attention at all.

Tessa nodded and silence fell between them once again.

“So…” Scott began, not really knowing how to voice out his thoughts. He knew it was already in the contract, but he still felt like he needed to clarify if they were still good, if it was still clear that they were business partners and nothing else. He would feel too awkward if he learned that Tessa developed feelings or something for him. Not because she wasn’t great, no, but because he knew he wasn’t there. His heart wasn’t there. He just wasn’t in the right state of mind to look for a relationship.

Plus, he knew there was next to nothing chances that Tessa would start seeing him as something more; he really felt that she was out of his league, but he wanted to make things clear, just in case.

“So?” Tessa echoed his words, looking at him with a smile, “Are you going to tell me what’s on your mind? You’ve been quiet all night,”

“I…” he really didn’t know how to say it without sounding like a complete jerk. He didn’t want to make her think that he felt like she was developing feelings for him. That he felt like it was a possibility. He really didn’t think that. He just wanted to be sure that there would be none of it in the future. It would surprise him a lot, but he would feel too bad to not be able to return her feelings. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Tessa after she had accepted to help him.

“Scott, come on, just say what you want to say,” Tessa said, nudging his shoulder playfully.

Scott sighed; “My friend Patrice,” he began and marked a pause to find the right words, “I told my friend Patrice about our huh, arrangement and he was huh, concerned,”

“Oh, about what?” Tessa asked. She looked at him so innocently that Scott felt even more foolish for addressing the subject. It wasn’t necessary, but at the same time he needed the certitude if he wanted to stop thinking about it. If he never asked he knew the fear and doubts would plague his thoughts until he couldn’t think about anything else.

“He was concerned that we huh, that we would forget about the deal and start developing huh” he coughed and felt himself turn red

“Develop what?” Tessa inquired.

“Hum…feelings? For each other?”

There. It was out in the open.

“Oh!” was all Tessa said.

Scott felt his hands go all clammy in the cold air of the night. He really was nervous about what Tessa’s next words were going to be. He hoped she didn’t think that he had developed feelings for her and that it was his awkward way of telling her. Gosh the situation was messed up…

“I mean, I, I’m really not there Scott. It’s not that you’re not a great guy, you really are. I just, when me made this deal, we stipulated that it was strictly business, I just,”

“No, no, no!” Scott interrupted Tessa right there. This was exactly what he feared. She had understood it all wrong. “I’m not there either. You’re great too. I just wanted to clarify things. It’s good. We’re both business partners, that’s all, nothing more! A platonic fake couple!”

Tessa shot him a smile that looked relieved; “Yeah, good. I’m glad we set this straight,”

They walked the rest of the way to his car in silence, but Scott felt like he could at least breathe a little easier.

When he went to bed that night though, Scott couldn’t sleep.

If he had set things straight with Tessa, how come he still was thinking about Patrice’s words? What was bothering him?

Only time would tell.


	7. November 24th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Already chapter 7!!! Hope it brightens your day :)

**Last Christmas**

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_  
_But the very next day you gave it away_  
_This year, to save me from tears_  
_I'll give it to someone special_

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_  
_But the very next day you gave it away_  
_This year, to save me from tears_  
_I'll give it to someone special_

_Once bitten and twice shy_  
_I keep my distance_  
_But you still catch my eye_  
_Tell me, baby_  
_Do you recognize me?_  
_Well, it's been a year_  
_It doesn't surprise me_  
_(Merry Christmas!) I wrapped it up and sent it_  
_With a note saying, "I love you, " I meant it_  
_Now, I know what a fool I've been_  
_But if you kissed me now_  
_I know you'd fool me again_

_Last Christmas, I gave you my heart_  
_But the very next day you gave it away_  
_This year, to save me from tears_  
_I'll give it to someone special_

 

* * *

 

“Tessa!”

She sighed as she heard her name being called from the hallway from the hundredth time that day. Closing her laptop, she rubbed at her tired eyes and stood up, walking in direction of her friend’s voice.

“What is it Kaitlyn?” she asked, passing her head through the opening of the door. All day long she had been called, people asking her questions and having requests for her. It seemed that everybody needed a piece of her that day. It was always crazy at work during the holidays, even when Ryan wasn’t fooling with her.

But that day, Kaitlyn stood in the middle of the hallway and she didn’t need an advice for once. No, she held an enormous bouquet of pale blue peonies in her hands and was looking at her with a teasing smile; “Those came for you, again,”

Tessa blushed a dark shade crimson. Ever since that first bouquet of yellow hydrangeas that Scott had sent her the week before, he had never stopped sending her gifts at the office; flowers, boxes of chocolate, even balloons… Balloons were a little too much if she was being honest.

Her office was filled with touches of Scott. She didn’t anymore where to put the new things he sent her. There were so much bouquet of flowers that it was starting to turn into a florist shop. She had at least a dozen different varieties of flowers in all different colors and tones.

“You sure received of lot of gifts the past few days,” Kaitlyn stated, looking at Tessa and chuckling.

“Scott is huh, demonstrative?” Tessa tried to explain, still blushing. She sure wasn’t used to that kind of thing. Ryan had never give her flowers, not a single time.

Kaitlyn nodded slowly; “You know, some people, not me, but people, have been whispering in the hallways. Some think that Scott isn’t real and that you’re sending those gifts to yourself.”

“What? I would never do such a thing!” Tessa exclaimed, feeling a little weird since it wasn’t that far from the truth.

Yes, Scott was real, but their relationship wasn’t. It had been his idea to send gifts though. He thought it would make Ryan go crazy. She was on board for anything that could unsettle him a bit. Not too much, just enough so he would leave her alone for a few days. She had too much work to do to waste time dealing with him and his devious schemes. Plus, it seemed to work. Ryan had been hanging suspiciously low for a few days… She didn’t know if she had to be happy or apprehensive.

“I know that he’s real, but some people, like Amy, are gossiping. She’s spreading the word that you made Scott up because you were jealous of her and Ryan’s engagement or something. Maybe you should try to convince them otherward. Have Scott pick you up for lunch or something? Show them he’s real?” Kaitlyn explained, handing Tessa the delicate blue flowers.

As her friend walked away, leaving Tessa in the embrasure of the door, she realized that Kaitlyn was right. She needed to make her and Scott’s relationship more believable to everyone, especially Amy and Ryan. She wouldn’t let them tarnish her new “relationship” nor her reputation. The whole purpose of their contract was to prove to anyone that she was alright without Ryan, not make them believe that she was so desperate she had to invent a boyfriend! It was completely counterproductive.

Taking in a big breath, she took out her phone from her back pocket and dialed Scott’s number. She hadn’t seen him since Saturday night, when they had gone out on a “date” to see the new Nutcracker movie together. Scott had obligated her to choose a movie with a Christmas theme since he was on his mission to make her love the holidays again.

When she was a little girl, she used to go and see the Nutcracker ballet every year with her mom. She used to dream about dancing as the Sugar Plum fairy one day but alas, pain in her shins had forced her early retirement from the dance world. She hadn’t seen the ballet since she was 18 years old, her last year as a dancer.

The movie was good and she had enjoyed her time with Scott, even if it was related to Christmas and it was strictly for business matter.

She still felt a little weird about the discussion they had shared after the movie though. She didn’t know why Scott had felt the need to clarify once again that they had promised each other a strictly platonic relationship. He had said it was because of what his friend Patrice had told him. She wanted to believe him and she hoped it wasn’t because she had sent him the wrong message. She wasn’t unaware of how attractive Scott was, but she just wasn’t ready to let anyone close to her heart again. She had yet to heal. Plus, Scott seemed way out of her league. He was so funny and charming and extrovert. What would he find in her?

So no matter what it was that had made Scott feel like he needed to clarify things yet again, she hoped that everything was good between them.

After their night out and that weird conversation, he had promised her that she could call him any time for anything. Since Scott spent a lot of his lunch breaks at the mall too, having an equal passion for Kim’s wonton soup, Tessa thought that it could be the day to take him up on his word and ask for a service.

After two rings of the phone, Scott answered; “Hey Tessa! How are you?” he said on a cheerful tone.

“Hey Scott, I’m good. Listen huh, I called because I want to ask for a service.”

“Sure, anything,” he said.

“Huh, would you mind coming to my office to take me out for lunch?” she asked, cringing as she heard herself almost pleading for his help. Maybe that was why Scott felt like the parameters of their relationship needed clarification? Because she was becoming too clingy? Maybe all the text messages she sent bothered him?

“Lunch? Of course! I just finished with my skaters at the rink! I’ll be there in 20 minutes or so?” he answered and Tessa let out a breath she didn’t even know she had been holding. If she was bothering him, he didn’t let it show.

“Alright! Thank you! See you soon!”

With that she hung up, going back to her work and waiting patiently for his arrival.

23 minutes later, she knew Scott had entered her office when she saw Amy eyeing her suspiciously as she stopped at her office’s door. “Tessa, there is a Scott Moir saying he is here for you?” she said as if she still wasn’t sure if she believed it or not.

“Thank you Amy!” Tessa said a little too enthusiastically, closing her laptop and taking her coat.

“Honey!” she heard as she approached the hall.

She simply glared at Scott in return. Nowhere in the contract was written that pet names were required. She had always thought they were a little cheesy. She preferred to stick with Tessa, or Tess maybe, if they ever got comfortable enough.

“Scott! Hi!” she said, pecking him on the cheek. She shivered as her lips came in contact with his cold cheek.

She could feel the stare of a few people on her. There was Amy who had fetched Ryan for sure, Kaitlyn was there too, eyeing her with heart eyes and there were three secretaries gossiping in the back.

“Ready for lunch?” he asked, looking over her shoulder and waving at what was probably their growing public.

“Yes, I’m starving,” she smiled.

He surprised her by taking her hand in his as they made their way out of the office, the eyes of half the employees following them.

As the elevator doors closed in front of them, Tessa let out a sigh of relief and let go quickly of Scott’s hand. She really didn’t want him to think she was enjoying it. One weird conversation about staying platonic was more than enough.

“Thank you so much! They were thinking that I had made you up or something. I’m sorry for asking you to come to my rescue, I promise it won’t happen again.” Tessa assured Scott in one quick breath.

“No problem, I told you, you can call me for anything,” Scott repeated and that time Tessa believed it. He really didn’t seem annoyed by the situation.

“Yeah well hopefully you won’t need to pick me up again. Now that they’ve seen you, they’ll believe you’re real and you’ll only need to fill your part of the contract for the engagement party,” Tessa rushed herself to say, not wanting Scott to believe she was going to abuse of their agreement.

“It’s alright! Actually, since we’re both fans of Kim’s soup, I thought we could spend a few of our lunch times together from now on,” Scott suggested, looking at her.

“Why?” she asked. It’s not that she didn’t want to spend more time with him, no matter how reticent she might have first been, she had to admit that she was growing to love the company of Scott Moir. He made her laugh a lot. But, she feared he wouldn’t want to. She really was confused. One minute he wanted to remind her of the platonic part of their “business contract”, and the next there he was, asking to spend more time with her. What did he really want?

“I just fear that we won’t have enough time to get to know each other otherwise before we have to hum, prove ourselves,” Scott said.

Tessa wasn’t sure she understood. They still had a lot of time before Christmas. She shared her thought with Scott who suddenly looked really nervous.

“I huh… my mom called. She said she was coming to Montreal on December 8th,” he added, looking at her.

Tessa gulped, she hoped it didn’t mean what she thought it did; “And?”

“And she wants to meet you.” He finished, looking sheepish.

Of course. He didn’t want to spend more time with her because he enjoyed her company. He needed their relationship to look real two weeks earlier than what he had first asked.  
That was the only reason why he wanted to spend more time with her.

“Your mom is coming, here?” she asked, a little shocked.

“Yup,”

“And she wants to meet me?”

“Yup!”

“Oh dear!” she breathed out, feeling her head go light.

On paper, it seemed like a perfect plan; both playing their fake significant other to get through the holidays without too much trouble. But now that she was actually going to meet Scott’s parents, she felt more nervous than she had ever been. There was no way they’d be able to sell it. There was so much they still didn’t know about each other!

“I can tell her that you already have something planned you know. I was just taking a chance. It’s not what we promised each other so I totally understand if you feel like it’s too much,” he said.

Tessa smiled a little forcefully; “No, we’ll be good. Let’s do this!”

“You sure?”

“Yes,” she lied through her teeth.

Scott thanked her profusely and just for that, she felt like she had made the right decision by saying yes. Plus, if they saw each other more, they would just be more ready for Ryan and Amy’s engagement party.

“Just one thing though,” she said, feeling like teasing him.

“What?”

“The balloons? A little too much don’t you think?”

They both laughed as they exited the building.


	8. December 1st

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! 
> 
> So I mixed a few of the dates in the last two chapters and I wanted to clarify things. Chapter 6 is on November 23rd, chapter 7 on November 24th. Scott's mom only visits on December 8th and today I offer you December 1st. 
> 
> Thank you all for the attention your giving to this story :)
> 
> Enjoy!

**Everyday is Christmas**

_Said I'm by the open fire_   
_Lovin' you is a gift tonight_   
_Lovin' you for all my life_   
_Lovin' you is a gift tonight_

_Oh everyday is Christmas when you're here with me_   
_I'm safe in your arms, you're my angel baby_   
_Everyday is Christmas when you're by my side_   
_You're the gift that keeps givin', my angel for life_   
_Everyday is Christmas_   
_Everyday is Christmas_   
_Everyday is Christmas with you by my side_

* * *

 

“What are we doing here?” Scott heard Tessa ask as soon as he parked the car in one of the few empty spots of the lot.

He saw her taking in their surroundings. If the country roads and one-hour drive hadn’t given him away, the big wooden sign stating Thibault’s tree farm surely had.

“We are Christmas tree shopping,” he stated happily, putting on his toque and mittens and looking at Tessa with a warm smile.

“I thought you already had a tree? You told me you decorated it last week,” Tessa added, looking at him questioningly.

Scott smiled. He indeed had already done his tree, the week-end before actually. He had bought the biggest natural tree he could find at a farm just outside the city and had spent almost a whole day decorating it, and his apartment, with all sorts of ornaments.

Christmas trees were one of his favourite things at Christmas; their odor, the twinkling lights that softly illuminate a room, the fun of furnishing its base with gifts for everybody he loved. He just couldn’t figure how someone could decide to not have a tree.

“I do have a tree, but you don’t,” he said, pointing an accusing finger at Tessa.

She only glared at him in return.

He had been expecting that kind of response from her. She was her own version of the Grinch after all, but he was also a very stubborn man. He would find a way to get Tessa to have a tree, even if he had to spend the whole day trying to convince her.

“I won’t buy a Christmas tree Scott,” she said, crossing her arms in protest and looking at him sharply.

“I know, I’ll buy one for you,” he argued, opening the door of his car and stepping outside. He smiled as he took in a breath of fresh air, aromas of the trees filling his nostrils.

But Tessa stayed inside stubbornly.

Rolling his eyes, he made his way around the car and went to the passenger’s side. He opened the door and crouched to her level; “Tess, get out of the car, we’re buying you a tree,”

“I don’t want to Scott. They’re all messy! Plus, I don’t even have ornaments,”

Scott sighed; “I have tons of ornaments. We can stop at my place and I’ll lend you a box or two.”

“Why do you insist on getting me a tree anyway?” she said, looking at him sternly.

“Because it’s my favourite part of Christmas and I promised I would make you love the holidays again. You can’t achieve that if you don’t at least try! Please Tess, it will be fun. We can even make hot chocolate when we’re done,” he added.

One of the things he had learned in the last few weeks was that chocolate was the way to Tessa’s heart. He hoped it would work.

“You promise?” she pouted, as if she was a child needing a little convincing.

Scott nodded solemnly, a hand on his heart.

Finally giving him a smile, Tessa rolled her eyes and took his outstretched hand. Together they made their way to the large field of trees, never letting go of each other’s hand.

As Scott watched Tessa’s face light up at the sight of all the trees, he knew he had been right to insist. Underneath all her layers of Grinch, Scott knew that Tessa loved Christmas. She just needed to remember how to do it.

He still didn’t know what had really happened for her to feel that way. Maybe it was her ex’s malicious schemes during that time of year or the fact that all her family now spent it separately, but he thought there was more to it. Whatever it was, he was well determined on making her forget about it and retrieve a little of the joy it surely used to bring her.

He had to admit that he was really growing to love spending time with Tessa. What had started as a strictly business arrangement was now growing into a least a fond friendship. He knew he had promised Patrice that his arrangement with Tessa wouldn’t evolve into anything more than it was supposed to be, but surely friendship was okay? It wasn’t like they were developing romantic feelings for each other or anything. They were good friends, that was it. He and Tessa now spent all their lunch times together, eating either at the mall, Tessa’s office, or the rink on Fridays, and he really loved it.

During all the time they spent together, he had told her all about his brothers and their adorable kids while she had told him about the strong bond she shared with her mother and sister even though they lived so far away. She told him about her years as a dancer and he told her about his work as a skating coach. They still avoided too personal subjects like plague; never once had he mentioned his ex Jenna, nor did she mention what had lead her ex to be engaged to a model.

He really enjoyed the time they spent together and wanting to learn more about Tessa was what had lead him to call her and tell her he had a surprise; the Christmas tree escapade.

“Oh! I like the big fatty ones!” he exclaimed as they walked by a really tall tree that caught his eye.

“This one? It will never fit in my apartment!” Tessa laughed loudly at his antics.

He was happy to see that she was enjoying herself. When they had first arrived at the tree farm, he had feared for a few minutes that she would refuse even coming out of the car and that the whole day he had planned would go to waste.

“I’m sure it can!” he said, smiling. He knew that he was wrong. There was no way that giant tree would fit anywhere expect if Tessa had a manor or something, which he highly doubted.

“Come on, stop fooling around!” she laughed. “What about this one?” she asked, going for a tree a little farther away and looking at him expectantly.

Scott was actually surprised to see that she was taking initiatives. He really wasn’t expecting her to start proposing which tree they were going to buy. His mission to make her love Christmas again was going better than what he had initially thought.

The tree Tessa was pointing at was smaller, yes, but it was fatty and its form was perfect. If there was one thing Tessa was, it was a perfectionist. Her tree needed to be perfect, no less.

“I like it!” he approved and Tessa smiled brighter.

“I guess it’s the one for me then!” Tessa said happily.

* * *

 

Two hours later, Scott was carrying heavy boxes of ornaments up the stairs leading to Tessa’s apartment. Sweating underneath his coat, he carried three boxes full of bows, trinkets and tinsels.

When he reached Tessa’s apartment, he laughed as he saw Tessa’s helpless expression, her eyes taking in the amount of stuff he had brought with him.

In a corner of her living room stood the tree they had chosen earlier. Tessa had covered the floor with a creamy colored blanket to avoid the pines falling directly on the wooden floor. Judging by how neat her whole apartment seemed to be, Scott could only guess that she wasn’t a fan of the mess natural trees could leave behind.

Her apartment simply screamed Tessa Virtue. He hadn’t known her for a long time, but from what he had seen, he could tell that she was organized and loved a classic style. Her introvert personality went well with her décor all in classic simplicity. Every wall was painted a different shade of white or grey and all her furniture was along the same tone. He felt really welcome in her home.

“You know, we only bought one tree, you brought way too much stuff,” Tessa said as she lifted one of the box and brought it next to the tree.

Scott shrugged; “We can use some of the decorations to brighten the other rooms, if you want,”

Once again that day, Tessa surprised him by saying she would think about it. He had thought that she would say no as soon as he opened his mouth, but she was really unpredictable that day. He could feel that they really were making progress in the whole “hating Christmas” department. He was pretty proud of himself.

“Alright,” Tessa said, opening her phone and synchronising it to the Bluetooth speaker.

Scott looked at her, eyes round; “Are you really putting on Christmas music?”

Tessa laughed, and soon enough, the first chords of the Nutcracker could be heard resonating in the living room.

“Like I told you, the Nutcracker has always been one of my favourites,”

So on the sweet melody of the Tchaikovsky ballet, they spent the afternoon decorating Tessa’s tree. They talked a little, but mostly laughed a lot. Scott thought that event though she didn’t look like it at first sight, Tessa Virtue was hilarious. One just needed to go through the layers she built around herself to see what kind of person she really was. He was proud to say he was getting there.

When they were done with the tree, Scott, being a man of his word, went to the kitchen to prepare fuming hot cups of hot chocolate for the both of them, Tessa following closely behind.

Smiling mischievously at him, Tessa went around him and got from one of her cupboards a pack of mini marshmallows.

Scott smiled as he made his way to the fridge; “That, is an essential, but we need milk first!”

Tessa only shook her head playfully in return.

“Ohh!” he gasped aloud as he looked inside her fridge. There was a pack of eggs, a regular carton of milk, a smaller one of chocolate milk, one apple and… that was it. There was next to nothing in Tessa’s fridge. How was she still alive?

“What is it?” Tessa asked as she came near him.

“Tell me you were stolen or something?” he asked, looking at her desperately.

“What?” she repeated.

Scott was still in disbelief. How was it possible to have such a low amount of food in a home?

“You don’t have any food!” he stated, raising his arms above his head as if it was a scandal.

Tessa laughed and shook her head; “I just don’t eat at home often.”

Scott couldn’t understand that. He loved to cook dinners at home, even if he was only cooking for one.

“Why?”

Tessa shrugged; “I guess I’m too busy and I’m such a bad cook,”

“We’ll, that’s something more we’ll have to work on!” he promised with a wink before taking the carton of milk.

When the hot chocolate was ready, Scott poured it in two mugs and Tessa added the mini marshmallows.

They went to sit on her sofa to drink their hot beverage, looking silently at the tree; the result of their hard work.

The tree was really pretty standing proudly in Tessa’s living room. Being the perfectionist that she apparently was, Tessa had chosen a gold and red theme for her tree and it really looked good with her otherwise pretty neutral décor.

“Thank you, for today,” she said softly.

Scott put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed; “Honestly, I really had a lot of fun. So thanks to you to for letting me and my crazy ideas importune you.”

Tessa shook her head with a smile; “You’re not importuning me. It’s… refreshing, to not hate Christmas and avoid it at all costs for a change,”

“Can I ask you why you hate it so much?” he looked at her intently.

Tessa sighed, but didn’t say anything for a while.

Scott suddenly felt bad for asking. In their contract, they had clearly established that no personal feelings were to be addressed if they wanted to keep things strictly professional; they had a business relationship after all. He himself wasn’t sure if he was ready to tell Tessa why he needed to invent fake girlfriends instead of meeting a real one. He could understand that no matter what it was that had made her grow into the Grinch, that it was personal.

“My ex, Ryan,” Tessa began, taking him by surprise, “It was four years ago. We were sitting in this living room, there was a tree a little like this one and we were unwrapping gifts. Mine was a bracelet and I really loved it, until I turned it around and I saw that the name Amy was engraved on it.”

Realization dawned upon Scott; Amy, Tessa’s colleague and Ryan’s brand new fiancé.

“He mixed up your presents,” he said softly.

Tessa nodded. “That’s how I found he was cheating on me. I asked him to leave and he did. The next day the tree was gone, the ornaments were in a box that I gave to the salvation Army and all of Ryan’s stuff was packed in his truck.”

“So you hate Christmas ever since,” Scott deducted.

“Except I think I’m starting to love it again,” Tessa added in a whisper.

She put her head on his shoulder and Scott felt his heart beat faster. It was weird, how comfortable they had both became with each other. When he had first proposed the contract to Tessa, it was the least thing he had been expecting. He really thought that they would stay business partners.

Scott thought back to Patrice words and sighed.

There was nothing to be afraid of; they were friends, nothing more.


	9. December 8th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! 
> 
> So I originally wanted to post all the chapters before Christmas, but real life got busy and I didn't have time. My new goal is New Year's Eve, we'll see how that will go :) 
> 
> Enjoy today's chapter and merry Christmas to you all!

**Have yourself a merry little Christmas**

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas_   
_Let your heart be light_   
_From now on your troubles will be out of sight_

_Have yourself a merry little Christmas_   
_Make the Yuletide gay_   
_From now on your troubles will be miles away_

_Here we are as in olden days_   
_Happy golden days of yore_   
_Faithful friends who are dear to us_   
_TGather near to us once more_

_Through the years we all will be together_   
_If the fates allow_   
_Hang a shining star upon the highest place_   
_So have yourself a merry little Christmas_

* * *

 

“Scott, let the poor cushions alone, they’re perfectly fluffy,” Tessa laughed as she watched him from where she rested all curled up on his couch.

It was already Saturday and after a really busy week at work, she was at Scott’s, helping him prepare for his mother’s visit. Alma Moir was on a train from Ontario and was scheduled to arrive a little before 4 that afternoon. If the queen herself had been in her place, Tessa thought that Scott would have been less anxious.

Tessa had first thought that she would spend a quiet Saturday; waking up at ten, sipping on her morning coffee while watching a cheesy romantic comedy, then taking her shower and taking her time to prepare for the night.

But no, it wasn’t what had happened, because Scott Moir, a grown man of thirty years who trained incredible skaters for world championships and lived on his own since he was seventeen was also incredibly afraid of his own mother’s judgement on his house keeping skills.

So Tessa had been woken up at 5 AM, a time at which she absolutely hated to wake on week-ends, by Scott who was apparently already on his fourth coffee. He had been talking at such a fast speed that she had trouble keeping up with what he said. She understood the essential of the message though; he needed her help to prepare for Alma’s visit.

Putting on a large sweatshirt and her favorite pair of jogging pants, tying her hair in a lose knot and filling a giant mug of coffee to go, Tessa made the short drive to Scott’s apartment, yawning all the way.

When she arrived, she laughed at the mess in front of her. Scott was standing in the middle of a literal war zone. His usually simple but tidy apartment had been turned upside down. All the furniture had been pushed next to the walls, the vacuum laid haphazardly on the floor, there was a huge pile of clothes on his kitchen table and dozens of different ingredients on his kitchen counter. The cupboards where all open, Christmas music was coming from the speakers of his television and it smelled strongly of citrus scented cleaning products.

“What the hell Scott?” she said, supressing a yawn. “It’s half passed 5 in the morning. You’re gonna wake all your neighbors. What are you doing?”

“My mother is coming Tess,” he said, dead serious, looking at her with almost crazy eyes, probably crazy from the apparent lack of sleep and overdose of caffeine.

Tessa closed the door behind her, resting her purse on the consort.

She looked at Scott with a comforting smile; “Yes, I know that. But why are you turning your apartment upside down like that?”

“Because! The woman is perfect! Her house is always tidy and she cooks the most delicious chocolate cake! I don’t want her to think I’m neglecting my home or something.”

Tessa laughed; “Scott, you have one of the tidiest place I ever went to. Stop worrying!”

“I can’t stop, will you help me, please?” he asked.

And because she simply couldn’t resist him when he looked at her like that, not after what he had done for her, helping her find a Christmas tree and everything, she agreed to give him her hand to prepare for Alma’s visit. That was how she found herself vacuuming his whole apartment and helping him cook diner.

She was an horrendous cook. She had survived thirty years so far solely because she loved poached eggs more than anything else, but with the help of Scott, cooking became surprisingly fun. He had promised earlier that he would help her work on her cooking skills and she was actually looking forward to it now that she had spent a day in the kitchen with him. They messed around and laughed a lot, but eventually they had cooked what looked like a delicious diner; fillets of sole with homemade pesto pastas and a garden salad and for dessert; a lemon pie. She felt like a real chef.

So yes, she had had a good day, but Scott was doing a little zeal. The cushions he was hitting forcefully were probably fluffier than they would ever be. It was time they stopped cleaning and started preparing for the night ahead. There was only around two hours left before his mother arrived.

“Scott, leave the poor cushion alone,” she chastised for the hundredth time, yawning loudly.

“I’m sorry. Oh I’m so sorry,” Scott said, letting himself collapse next to her on the couch. “I made you wake up at 5 to help me,” he stated as if realizing it for the first time.

Tessa chuckled; “It’s alright, but I think I’ll go back home now and I’ll try to nap a little before coming back,”

She was simply exhausted, plus, she was still wearing her jogging pants and hadn’t washed her hair in the morning. She really needed to go back to her place to both get rest and dress herself up. She didn’t want Alma to think she was neglecting herself or something. She didn’t want to embarrass Scott.

“Alright, yeah, of course,” Scott said, escorting her to the door.

Tessa put on her coat and smiled; “See you later!”

“Yeah, see you later! And thanks again for the help!”

With that, Tessa left and took the stairs down Scott’s building. She walked to her car which was parked in the street across the apartment.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” Tessa swore as she approached her car. She hated the snow, she hated the cold and she hated the damn Montreal system to clear the snow from the streets. Her car was snowed in. She hadn’t taken the time to read the signalisation on the side of the street that morning. Parking was forbidden Saturdays on that side because of snow clearing procedures. So they had just pushed the snow aside and her poor car was trapped underneath a mountain of dirty brownish snow. It would take hours to shovel it all out of the way.

Swearing under her breath, she made her way back to Scott’s apartment.

She knocked forcefully, feeling panic flooding her. What was she going to do if she couldn’t go back home? She was going to ruin the whole night with her dirty hair and old sweater.

“Scott! Scott! Open the door!!!” she cried out.

“Tessa? What the hell! Did something happen?” Scott asked, pulling her back in his apartment quickly by the arm.

Her heart would have swelled at Scott’s caring glance if she hadn’t been too busy feeling outraged. “My car is snowed in!” she exploded. How was she going to make a good impression on Scott’s mother if she couldn’t go back home and change?

“Your car is snowed in? That’s the big thing? I thought you had been mugged or something! Don’t scare me like that!”

Tessa looked at Scott, curious. She really hadn’t thought she could have scared him. In fact, she was really surprised to see his reaction. Scott seemed… worried? About her? It felt weird… and comforting at the same time.

“I’m sorry… I just, we spent so much time making sure tonight would be perfect. Now I’ll ruin everything. What will your mother think if I can’t go home and change? I’ll look like I’m neglected or something.”

“It’s alright Tess. First, I doubt my mother would think that. She’ll love you, no matter what you’re wearing,”

Tessa opened her mouth to protest, but Scott cut her off.

“I can drive you home okay? My car is in the garage,” Scott suggested kindly, but Tessa shook her head. She knew it was a lot to ask. Scott probably needed the time to finish his preparations. The diner was still in the oven. Plus, it was silly to worry so much about her appearance. She just wanted things to be perfect. It might have been a fake relationship, but she still wanted Alma to like her.

“I can’t ask you that,” she said.

“What if we make a deal? I drive you home, you grab your stuff, but you come back here to prepare?” Scott suggested.

Tessa hesitated. It would feel really weird to shower in Scott’s bathroom. At the same time, she couldn’t possibly meet his mother for the first time in jogging and with dirty hair. It was her best option.

“Alright. If you’re sure I’m not asking too much,”

“I already asked you to wake at 5 to clean my apartment. I think it’s just a little fair that I help you out a little in return,”

So Scott drove Tessa home where she quickly assembled what she would need; shampoo, soap, a dress, her hair dryer and all the other things she would need. She packed it in a duffle bag and went back quickly to Scott who was waiting for her in his car.

When they arrived back at his place, he guided her to the bathroom and showed her where the towels and other things were before going back to the kitchen where he busied himself with last minute diner preparations.

When she was left alone, Tessa took in a big nervous breath. She was about to be naked in Scott’s bathroom. It was a little weird wasn’t it? Scott and her were… She didn’t know anymore what they were. They had started as strangers, had become business partners and now she thought they were friends, maybe? She knew she loved spending time with him and when she did, she forgot about Ryan and all his devious schemes. She was even learning how to love Christmas again; something she thought she would never be able to do again, not after the way she had learned about Ryan’s infidelity.

So yeah, she could say that Scott and her were friends, friends who were about to pretend to be in love for Scott’s mother. That was going to be interesting; their first real time having to pretend for a long period of time that they were couple.

Tessa took her shower quickly, washing her hair with her favorite Moroccan oil shampoo. When she was done, she blow-dried her hair, applied minimal make up and put on the dress she had chosen for the evening; a simple long sleeve black dress with a classic cut. Nothing too fancy, just formal enough to meet the mother of her fake boyfriend.

When she opened the door of the bathroom, her nose was instantly filled with delicious aromas of the dish Scott was preparing.

“Wow…” Scott said as he turned around, probably hearing her footsteps getting closer to where he stood near the stove.

“You look amazing,” he added.

Tessa blushed. Scott just had a way of saying things that sometimes made her knees go weak. He looked at her with such intensity. It was most likely all part of their pretending though. They did need to practice their flirting if they wanted things to look real for his mother.

“Thank you. I’d say you don’t look too bad yourself, but you have a weird stain on your shirt,” Tessa joked, pointing at a green spot on Scott’s grey t-shirt, probably from the pesto sauce he was stirring.

Scott looked down at his lap and laughed; “I really should get changed,”

He disappeared down the hall and Tessa was left standing alone in the kitchen. She dried her hands on her dress. She really was nervous. She was about to meet Scott’s mother. It was the moment of truth. This was when they would know if they could sell it to Scott’s family. She hoped they would. She really didn’t want to disappoint him. All day long they had rehearsed their answers about how they met, when was their anniversary, what was their favorite restaurant to go on a date, etc.

She stood awkwardly in the kitchen and tried to find something to do when a loud knock at the door startled her.

“Scott!” she cried loudly, but all she could hear in return was the shower running. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest. Scott’s mother was apparently early and Scott wasn’t ready.

She was torn between her two choices; face Scott’s mother by herself while he finished his shower, which shouldn’t be long. How long could a guy take to wash his hair? Or, disturb Scott in the shower and make his mother wait. When they’d finally open the door though, one could only guess what Scott’s mother would think about what they were previously doing…Yup, not the best way to meet a fake mother in law for the first time.

Taking a deep breath, she made her way on shaky legs towards the door. She took the doorknob in her hand and paused. Panic was flooding her, but she had no other choice.

She figured it was like ripping off a bandaid and with one last big breath, she threw the door open.

“Hi!” she said, plastering a big smile on her face.

“Oh! You must be Tessa! I’m so glad to meet you!” Scott’s mother exclaimed, going immediately for a hug.

Tessa was a little startled but encircled the woman in his arm nonetheless.

“And you must be Alma,” Tessa replied, patting her on the back.

“Oh! Scott told me so much about you dear!” Alma exclaimed, holding Tessa by the shoulder at arm’s length.

Tessa raised an eyebrow at that. She wondered what he had told her about. They still didn’t know that much about each other…

“And Scott told me so much about you too,” she replied, giving Alma a warm smile.

She shot a nervous look toward the bathroom and realized with relief that at least the shower had stopped running.

“Scott!” she called trying to keep her voice calm even though her heart was beating fast. “Your mother’s here!”

“Coming!” he yelled from the bathroom.

“Oh! Was he in the shower?” Alma asked.

Tessa nodded; “Would you want something to drink?” she asked politely to her fake mother in law.

“Please,” Alma accepted, following her in the kitchen.

Tessa froze as she took the bottle of wine from the fridge. She didn’t even know where the wine glasses were in Scott’s apartment. Was she the kind of girlfriend who was supposed to know that or she could be honest and try to make a joke out of it?

“Mom!” Scott exclaimed as he came in the kitchen, saving the day.

“Scott! Honey! Come here,” his mother said, embracing her kid in a hug. Seeing that, Tessa knew where Scott got his warm and physical personality from.

“So! I wanna hear all about you Tessa,” Alma said, clasping her hands together.

Dinner passed in a blur filled with laughter, but also a little bit of awkwardness. Alma asked so many questions. She made them tell the whole story of how they met and once again, they stuck to the reality as much as they could, only leaving out the part about contracts and business partners. Alma seemed to buy it with no problem.

Probably trying to sell it, Scott put his arm around Tessa’s shoulders sometime between the main course and the dessert and Tessa hoped that it didn’t appear to flagrant how tensed her shoulders became. It’s not that she resented Scott’s touch, she was just unused to it and it made her feel all giddy.

Alma was such a good woman. She made Tessa feel at ease and she made her feel comfortable. In only one night, she felt like she and Scott’s mother would get along very well.

But, there was a but. She was lying to Alma. She and Scott were both lying to such a good person. Tessa felt really bad. It was clear that Alma only wanted the best for her son and she now thought that the best was her, Tessa. How would she feel when Scott would tell her that his relationship hadn’t work out? Worst, how would she feel if she learned that they were lying to her, pretending to be in love?

So as kind as Alma was, Tessa spent the whole night feeling like there was a cloud above her head.

When Alma left around 11 that night, going to sleep at a friend’s house, Scott closed the door behind her and let out a big sigh.

“That went well,” he stated, turning around to face Tessa, probably waiting for her approval.

Tessa didn’t know what to say. All she knew was how bad she was feeling. If one night had done that to her, how would she feel after four whole days and a house filled with a dozen of friendly welcoming Moirs? How could she, they lie to so many people?

“Yeah,” she said and she cringed as she heard her own voice. It didn’t sound convincing at all.

“What is it?” Scott asked, probably noticing her discomfort.

Tessa shrugged; “We’re lying to her,”

“I know, but at least she’s happy,” Scott trailed off, sounding not so convincing himself.

Tessa looked at him; “Yeah, hum, I should get going,” she said, taking her coat from where it hanged by the door.

Scott stopped her, putting his hand on top of hers softly; “Tess, where do you think you’re going?”

“Huh, home?”

“As far as I know, your car is still snowed-inn,”

“Yeah, but I’ll take a taxi,” she shrugged.

Scott shook his head; “Stay here.”

Tessa hesitated; “I don’t want to impose,”

As much as she appreciated Scott’s offer, she really didn’t want to abuse of his hospitality. Plus, it was one thing to shower at his place, since they had become friends and all, but spending the night? That seemed a little too much.

“You’re not imposing. Please. It’s late. A taxi will take forever to come and it will cost you a fortune,”

He was right, Montreal was a big city, but the taxi system wasn’t the best. Plus, she was dead tired, having woken up at 5. She didn’t have that much energy to wait for a taxi for an hour or more.

“You can take the bed and I’ll take the couch. Plus, tomorrow I’ll help you shovel all the snow out of the way of your car,” Scott insisted.

Tessa didn’t know if she was crazy, but she accepted his offer, her sleepiness winning the debate.

They fought a little on the matter of the bed, but eventually Tessa won. She was competitive and really stubborn. She didn’t want to sleep in Scott’s bed, as generous as his offer was, it was too weird for her.

Scott brought her a pile of blankets and a pillow and made her a comfortable ness on the couch while Tessa went back to the bathroom and threw on her jogging pants and sweater.

“Good night Scott,” she said as she buried herself underneath the pile of warm blankets.

“Good night Tess,” Scott said, closing the lights and heading down the hall to his bedroom.

As Tessa dosed off, thinking back about the night she had just spent, she realized how the blankets smelled so much like Scott and she smiled.

It smelled like home, she just wasn’t ready to admit it yet.


	10. December 9th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep typing and typing!
> 
> A little drama today but don't worry, it won't last ;) 
> 
> Enjoy!

**Snowman**

_Don't cry snowman, not in front of me_   
_Who will catch your tears if you can't catch me, darlin'?_   
_If you can't catch me, darlin'?_   
_Don't cry, snowman, don't leave me this way_   
_A puddle of water can't hold me close, baby_   
_Can't hold me close, baby_

_I want you to know that I'm never leaving_   
_Cause I'm Mrs. Snow, 'till death we'll be freezing_   
_Yeah, you are my home, my home for all seasons_   
_So come on let's go_   
_Let's go below zero and hide from the sun_   
_I'll love you forever where we'll have some fun_   
_Yes, let's hit the North Pole and live happily_   
_Please don't cry no tears now, it's Christmas baby_

_My snowman and me_   
_My snowman and me_   
_Baby_

* * *

 

Scott woke up a little startled, wondering for a while what had made him wake up so suddenly. He glanced at his alarm clock and sighed loudly when he realized that it was only 8 AM. He stayed alert, not wanting to miss any noise that would indicate what had woken him up, but he didn’t hear anything. When he finally decided to try and go back to sleep, a loud knock resonated in his apartment; somebody was at his door.

Who was bothering him on a Sunday morning?

He groaned loudly in his pillow and got up reluctantly. Dragging his feet, he made his way to the door, suppressing a yawn as he yanked it open.

“Mom,” he said, taking the appearance of his early visitor. Alma Moir was at his doorstep, a large smile gracing her features.

“Hello Scott! Am I waking you up?” his mother asked as she introduced herself in his home, closing the door loudly behind her. Scott could always count on his mother to be overly cheerful in the mother. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

“Hum, yeah, a little, but it’s okay,” Scott said. His mind was still clouded with sleepiness, but he was glad to see his mother. Ever since he had moved to Montreal, he felt like he didn’t see her enough and he had to admit he felt a little guilty about it. He knew she missed him and he missed her too.

Alma smiled; “Good! I was at my friend’s Margaret when I realize that I see you so rarely. I thought I could surprise you and take you out for breakfast! What do you think about that?”

“Humph,” a muffled sound resonated in the apartment and panic flooded Scott as he realized what, or rather who, had emitted that sound; Tessa.

He tried to make diversion, trying to advert his mother’s gaze from looking in his living room. He pretended he wanted to show her something in the kitchen. The last thing he wanted was for her to see Tessa, his supposedly girlfriend with whom he was supposed to be head over heels in love with, fast asleep on his couch, but he had no such luck.

“Oh! Tessa! Hi,” his mother said rather awkwardly.

Scott watched as Tessa came to her senses and her face turned a dark shade of red, realizing her predicament. She stuttered to find something to say.

“Hum, hi,” she mumbled as she buried herself under the blankets, probably wishing as much as he did that they could both disappear. Scott knew way too much what the situation looked like.

He tried to find something, anything, to say. He wanted to dissipate the palpable tension in the air, but his mind was completely blank.

“I’ll hum, go to the bathroom, excuse me,” Tessa said, passing by them in a blur of white blankets and raven hair.

“Scott, kitchen,” his mother said sternly as soon as the bathroom door closed loudly behind Tessa. He followed her, a pitiful expression on his face.

“Scott Moir! What happened that lead poor Tessa to sleep on that awful couch of yours? Did you two have a fight or something?” his mother exclaimed, looking at him with so much care. Scott was reminded instantly of Tessa’s words the day before; how she was feeling guilty for lying to his mother about their relationship. He had denied it the previous night, but he could feel it too, the guilt creeping up at him.

“No hum, she just, she wasn’t sleeping well. She said she’d try on the couch. She was just so restless,” Scott lied, very poorly, he had to admit it. Again, he was a bad liar. He had followed Tessa the day before with her strategy of sticking to the truth as much as they could. It was probably the only reason why his mother had bought their story. He hoped it wouldn’t all burst in flames with his mother’s surprise visit and her sighting of Tessa sleeping on the couch instead of in his bed. They looked like a couple who had gotten in a fight (or two strangers who pretended to be dating).

“Scott Moir I hope you’re not lying right now! I hope you didn’t have an argument with her and went to bed like that! How many times have I told you to never go to bed angry with someone?” his mother continued, not buying his half-ass excuse. “Oh my god! It’s my fault isn’t it? Did I come in too strong? Did you fight about me? I scared her away didn’t I? Is it why Tessa preferred to sleep on the couch?”

Scott rolled his eyes. There was no way that anyone in the world couldn’t appreciate Alma Moir; she was too special for that. “Mom, I swear, Tessa and I didn’t argue. She loved you,” Scott assured his mother and this time, probably because it was genuine, she really seemed to believe him.

“Alright, I believe you, but the next time that she can’t sleep, please Scott, don’t let the poor girl sleep on the couch! Leave her the bed and you take the couch! I raised you to be a better gentleman than that!” his mother scolded him and Scott felt like a child again.

“Yes mom,” he answered obediently. There was no need to argue and tell her that Tessa had been even more stubborn than he was. She would still scold him for not being more convincing.

“I’m the one who insisted on taking the couch Alma,” Tessa said as she came in the kitchen, dressed in her jogging pants and sweater.

“Oh Tessa dear! I am so sorry for taking you by surprise like that this morning,” Alma apologized.

“It’s alright,”

“Actually, I wanted to take Scott out for breakfast, but since you’re here, would you want to join us?” she asked.

Scott groaned inwardly. He knew that nobody could resist Alma. She just had a way of asking for things that made anybody feel guilty for saying no. It was because of her constant insisting that he had found himself with a fake girlfriend after all. He just felt so bad for putting Tessa in that position though. He was already asking so much from her. Their agreement had started with accompanying him to Ilderton, but he had added the diner with his mother. He didn’t want to overstep too much by adding a breakfast on top of everything. She probably had much more important things to do.

“I would love to, I just hum, I don’t have any clothes to wear,” she said, her face turning red.

Right, the snowed in car, Scott remembered.

“Oh! We can stop by your apartment if you want,” Alma suggested, beaming at the both of them.

“Mom, I really don’t think, I mean, Tessa has lots of things to do,” Scott said, trying to give Tessa and out. He knew she was busy with work and her fashion show for charity coming up. She was working 50 hours a week trying to get everything done in time.

“It’s okay Scott, I’d really like to come. I mean, if you want me to,”

Of course he wanted her to come. He wanted to spend all the time he could with her. He just felt like he was asking too much from her. But if she wanted to, he surely wasn’t going to tell her to stay home.

So that was how Scott, Tessa and Alma found themselves sitting at a table in a small restaurant in the old part of the town. Snow was softly falling outside, covering the street with a fresh coat of pure white fluffy snow.

Scott ordered himself a plate of berries and cream pancakes while Tessa chose an avocado toast. He could feel her eyeing his pancakes as she ate her own breakfast (too healthy in his opinion). When she wasn’t watching, engulfed in a conversation with his mother, he picked a few pieces of cream covered pancakes and put them in her plate.

He was in the process of putting a few berries in her plate too when he heard a name that made him freeze; Jenna. His mother was talking to Tessa about Jenna. That made his heart beat faster and his mouth go dry.

“Mom,” he tried to interrupt, really not wanting to address his old failed relationship with Tessa, but his mother didn’t seem to hear him.

“You know, I’m really glad Scott found you Tessa. After the way things ended with Jenna three years ago, I really feared that he’d never find someone again.”

“Mom!” he said a little more forcefully and that finally got her attention.

“Oh! I’m sorry, you talked to Tessa about Jenna didn’t you?” his mother said, a hint of worry in her voice.

Scott sighed. He loved his mother, he really did, but sometimes she could be so lunatic. She was so happy that he had found Tessa that she thought he was well over what had happened before, but he….

Scott stopped his train of thoughts for a moment. Ever since his breakup with Jenna, he was always so sad and angry when he thought about her. For three years he had felt shame and pure anger when he thought back to what had happened; how she had said no to his proposal in front of all their friends. How she had told to his whole family at the same time that she didn’t really love him, hadn’t for a while. How humiliated he had been to be publicly rejected like that.

But for the first time in years, his mother was bringing up Jenna and he didn’t feel a single thing. Just guilt that he hadn’t told Tessa about her before. Judging by the way she was reacting, mouth slightly agape and adverting his gaze, he could tell that she was hurt by his lies. How could she not be? She had opened up to him about Ryan, _he_ had made her open up, and yet, he hadn’t been able to be truly honest with her.

“No mom, I, I hadn’t told Tessa about her…” he trailed off, his tone hopefully containing all the remorse he felt.

“It’s okay, it’s not my business I guess,” Tessa said, looking down at her plate.

“Tess,” he said softly, putting his hand on top of hers, but she flinched away.

“I’ll hum, go to the bathroom,” his mother excused herself, leaving he and Tessa to talk. He thanked her silently with a nod of the head as she made her way between the tables.

“Tess, I am so sorry for not telling you,” he said, trying to get her to look at him.

When she didn’t answer, he sighed and tried something else; “I just… When Jenna left me, I was just so ashamed. I gave everything to that girl, but she threw it away in front of all my family. She truly hurt me. I didn’t want to tell you because I would have felt to exposed I guess,”

“What else did you lie to me about?” she said so softly that he almost didn’t hear.

“What?”

“I said what else did you lie to me about?” she asked, finally looking at him.

He gasped as he saw the tears filling her green eyes; “Tess, I never lied to you. I just… kept that part to myself.”

“How can I know? You asked me to help you to lie to your mother. The first time we met you were telling Alma lies on the phone. Our whole relationship is based on lies. How can I trust you Scott?” she said, emptying her heart. She wasn’t yelling, she was alarmingly calm.

“Tess, I swear I didn’t lie to you. I’m not a liar,” he said. He really needed her to believe him. He… She made him feel like he had never felt before. He didn’t want to lose that. He knew he was bound to though. When the holidays would be over, so would be their contract. There was no guarantee that they would see each other after that. But for the time being, he wanted to keep her as close as he could. He didn’t want her to think he had lied to her. He had just kept that part of his life to himself because he didn’t like the way he had dealt with things; wasting his time away partying and drinking for a few months after his break up with Jenna. He didn’t like the guy he had been in that brief period of time and he never wanted Tessa to know that side of him.

“I don’t know Scott. We don’t really know each other after all…” she trailed off.

“We do! We spent all that time together! We do know each other! We’re friends, no?” Scott asked almost pleading her to agree with him.

“I’m sorry, I overreacted. We specified that personal feelings weren’t to be discussed. I had no right to be mad at you like that. We are just exchanging services, not personal thoughts. We’re business partners. When all this will come to an end, we will go our separate ways, that’s it.”

Her tone of finality made him feel like he had just lost something really special.

He feared he wasn’t going to get it back.


	11. December 14th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! 
> 
> I couldn't leave you hanging for too long after the way chapter 10 ended ;) 
> 
> Today's chapter is one of my favorite so far and I hope you'll love seeing ever poised Tessa trying her hardest to not mix feelings and work... 
> 
> Enjoy!

**All I Want for Christmas Is You**

_I don't want a lot for Christmas_   
_There's just one thing I need_   
_I don't care about the presents_   
_Underneath the Christmas tree_   
_I just want you for my own_   
_More than you could ever know_   
_Make my wish come true_   
_All I want for Christmas_   
_Is you_

_I don't want a lot for Christmas_   
_There is just one thing I need_   
_I don't care about the presents_   
_Underneath the Christmas tree_   
_I don't need to hang my stocking_   
_There upon the fireplace_   
_Santa Claus won't make me happy_   
_With a toy on Christmas day_   
_I just want you for my own_   
_More than you could ever know_   
_Make my wish come true_   
_All I want for Christmas is you_   
_You baby_

* * *

 

There was hairspray in the hair, bright lights, lots of yelling and a tense atmosphere.

The day of Tessa’s fashion show for charity had finally came. She had worked harder than before all week long, trying to compensate for the lack of planner, Judith having been chased away by Ryan and never having been replaced. “It’s an easy job to do anyway Tessa,” Ryan had said, saying there was no way he’d ever pay for another planner when she could do the job so easily. It was just another one of his devious schemes to make her life miserable before the holidays.

She didn’t complain though. She was actually grateful for the overload of work, because while she was busy, she didn’t have time to think about the disastrous breakfast she had had with Scott and his mother.

She knew she wasn’t supposed to care that much. They had made a promise to help each other out, to be business partners. They had stipulated times and times again that there would be no personal feelings involved. Scott had even taken the time to remind her of that after one of their fake dates at the movies. He had probably seen it coming. He had seen her falling for him before she even did.

Because she had, fallen for him that is. And hard.

She hadn’t realized it at first. She thought they were simply friends and whenever a tiny voice in her head tried to show her the signs that she was developing feelings for him, she had pushed it away to the far back of her mind. She had not fully realized what had happened until Alma had told her about Jenna, until she had learned that Scott hadn’t told her about his ex while she had been fully honest with him. Only then she had realized that it hurt that much because she cared. If she hadn’t cared, she wouldn’t have reacted the way she did. The worst was that despite what he had said, Scott obviously didn’t care because if he did, he would have told her about Jenna.

But she had to get over it. This was not what they had signed for.

It had been five days since it had happened, and she had not heard back from Scott. The worst was that her car was still snowed in in front of his apartment. She was too stubborn to face him after the way things had ended last Sunday. So she chose to take the subway or call taxis whenever she needed to go somewhere instead of retrieving her car. There was no way she was going to get her car from Scott’s, not unless she could know for sure that he wasn’t going to be there. It was childish, she admitted it, but she didn’t feel like being reasonable.

She didn’t even know anymore if Scott would be there for Ryan and Amy’s engagement party the next day. She feared that she had ruined everything with her outburst about Jenna.

“Tessa! Tess! We need your help here!” Kaitlyn called for her and Tessa chastised herself for losing precious time thinking about Scott. She had spent the week ignoring her feelings and pretending that she didn’t care. Now that the big day of her fashion show had come, it wasn’t the time to ruin it with unwanted ruminations.

So pushing her thoughts away once again, she went to help Kaitlyn who had apparently some trouble with one dress. Channelling her energy on work was the best thing she could do so she took care of a million tiny last minute problems until it was finally time for the show.

To say it was a success was an understatement. Tessa had always been humble, but her show really was incredible. Even Ryan, always criticizing Ryan, didn’t find anything mean to say to her about the show. As he stood in front of her backstage with Amy, who had refused to model for charity, stating she was worth more than that, Ryan couldn’t come up with one negative comment to say about the show. So he hit where he knew it would hurt; “I didn’t see Scott tonight. Your boyfriend finally realized he was wasting his time Tess?”

She knew he was doing that to hurt her on purpose. She knew she was supposed to be better, rise above. She was supposed to ignore his childish teasing and walk pass him as if he didn’t exist. But she also really felt like pushing him. Because Scott wasn’t there and to be reminded of that really hurt.

“Sorry, I ran late but I watched most of the show from the back row since I didn’t want to disturb too much,”

Tessa whisked her head towards the voice who had said those words; a voice she knew all too well, but also a voice that she really had not expected to hear on that night.

“Scott!” she exclaimed, truly shocked. What was he doing there? Even before they had argued, he had never been supposed to be there. She had told him she was going to be working the majority of the time anyway and that he would only be wasting his time. She thought he didn’t even know where the event was held.

“Hey Tess,” he said. There he stood, in the middle of the changing rooms backstage, holding a bouquet of her favorite blush pink flowers in his hands and sporting what looked like the most remorseful expression she had ever seen in her life. Seeing Scott Moir at her fashion show was the last thing she had been waiting for.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, sounding harsher than she had intended to be. Good, she didn’t want him to believe that he just had to come in with flowers to be forgiven. Then again, a small voice in her head reminded her that he had nothing to apologize for. She was the one who hadn’t respected her end of the deal by falling for him. He was already doing so much more than what he had signed up for.

“Trouble in paradise Tessa?”

She had almost forgotten that Ryan was there. Plastering on her biggest fake smile, she turned to him and said; “No of course not Ryan! I’m just utterly surprised to see him considering he wasn’t supposed to be able to make it. I should have known that he’d do the impossible to be there, like always.”

With that, she gritted her teeth and kissed Scott on the cheek before taking the flowers from him and batting her eyelashes like a tenth grade girl in love.

Scott looked at her and mumbled; “Can we huh, go somewhere else, private?”

She took his hand in hers and sending one last glance at Ryan, she guided Scott up the stairs and towards a small room that had been turned into her office for the event. She closed the door carefully behind her, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation. She could never be too careful.

“I’m sorry Scott,” she began, crossing her arms in front of her as some sort of emotional shield. She supported her weight on the wooden desk and sighed. She really was sorry and hoped she would be able to convey it to him.

“What? You’re sorry? For what? I was the dick head remember?” Scott replied, coming close to face her.

Tessa shook her head; “No you… You had every right to keep this to yourself. I overreacted. We said it times and times before; no personal feelings. We knew it would get messy. I’m sorry for letting it get to me. I guess I just got afraid.”

“Of what?” he asked, looking at her intently.

She couldn’t be honest with him though; it would ruin the whole thing. Gone would be their deal if she admitted having developed feelings for him. He had said it; he wasn’t ready. And she wasn’t supposed to be either! What had happened to her in such a short time? What had Scott Moir done to her? She was usually so poised, always in control. She had never felt that way, not even after she had learned about Ryan’s infidelity. Even then, she had dealt with the whole thing with what could only be called professionalism. She hadn’t even cried a single tear. Yet, she had almost burst into tears when Alma had told her about Jenna. She really needed to get a grip.

“I was afraid that our deal wasn’t going to hold if we lied to each other, but I was wrong. Your personal relationships aren’t of my concern and I should have respected that.” There she was; professional Tessa. And if she had to lie a little to protect herself, who could blame her?

“Oh, hum, yeah, but I thought, I mean, I really felt like we had become friends? No?”

Tessa sighed. She wasn’t sure if being friends with Scott was a good idea. Sure, he was kind and generous and he made her laugh so much, but she saw him in a totally different light than he did. She didn’t think she would be able to keep appearances up much longer when their deal would come to an end. So being friends with him… She could, for the time being, but after the holidays, she wasn’t so sure if it could work.

“Yeah, I guess we’re friends,” she shrugged as she stood up.

“Good! You know, I was afraid all week long that I had lost you, that our deal wasn’t holding anymore,” Scott answered and Tessa felt her heart sink to her feet. The stupid deal always and again. She had agreed to it to protect her heart but she seemed to have gotten only the opposite in the end.

“Don’t worry Scott, our deal is still holding,” she promised, sending him a fake smile.

“It’s not just the deal Tess. I really like your company. You know, together we-“ Scott stopped his sentence mi-way, and looked at her puzzled.

“Did you hear that?” he asked.

Tessa froze. Was there someone coming up? She could only guess it was Ryan. He probably wanted to stumble upon them fighting or something. Oh he would be too happy.

She looked closely at the doorknob at saw it turn so slowly that she almost missed it. She panicked. She wasn’t going to lose all her credibility by letting Ryan walk upon their discussion. So without thinking about it, she yanked Scott by the collar and pulled him close to her before locking their lips, electricity running though her veins at the touch. Scott lost his balance by the forceful tug on his clothes and Tessa felt herself starting to fall backwards under his heavy weight. Before she had time to realize anything, the back of her thighs came in contact with the wooden desk she had previously been resting on. She sat on it and opened her legs to make room for Scott to be closer to her. As she did so, their lips lost contact, but before she had time to register anything, Scott’s lips were back on hers, this time he being the one initiating the kiss.

Tessa got lost in their kiss, Scott’s hot breath mingling with hers in a perfect manner. It felt like their bodies had been molded for the other as she felt him press so perfectly between her legs, a hot tingling growing in her belly. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer.

Only when Scott’s lips attacked her neck did she realize why, or rather for who, she had put on that show. She opened her eyes tentatively and looked towards the door. She immediately locked eyes with Ryan who stood in the embrasure of the door. He left the scene quickly after he realized he had been spotted.

After seeing Ryan leave the room, Tessa slowly got her senses back, even though Scott’s trail of kisses towards her collarbone made that particularly hard to do.

“It’s okay, Ryan’s gone. You can stop now Scott. He’s gone. No need to pretend anymore,” she said hastily as she tried to catch her breath, detangling herself from Scott.

At her words, Scott jumped away from her as if he had just been burn by fire; ‘Yeah, hum, right. Alright,”

“Sorry for jumping on you like that by the way, but Ryan was spying on us and I guess it’s the first idea that came to my mind,” Tessa said, explaining herself rather awkwardly as she crossed her legs self-consciously.

“Yeah, I, I knew it. I saw him too. No worries Tess,” Scott said and then, he did one really weird thing. He punched her on the shoulder with his fist, as if they were two old buddies.

“Good, good,” she said, passing a hand through her dishevelled hair. “We should go back downstairs. There’s huh, there’s a party, to celebrate the end of the show, if you want to come?” she offered, feeling like it would be rude to just go alone and let him go back home.

“Yeah, sure,” he agreed, but neither made a move.

God this was awkward, Tessa thought. What had she thought? Jumping at him like that? She already had trouble remembering that they were business partners/friends only. Now that she had kissed him, she would need a lot more self-convincing to remind her of that. You know what they say; you can’t miss what you never had. As long as she didn’t know what it felt like to kiss Scott, it was easy to restrain herself. How could she see him only as a friend now? She could still feel his hands on her waist, the pressure between her legs, his hot lips on her neck.

She shook her head forcefully to chase the images away. It wasn’t the time. She stood on her feet and led Scott downstairs, hoping she would be able to enjoy the rest of the night.

And she did, somewhat.

But when she went to bed that night, all she could do was replay their kiss again and again in her head. She couldn’t help it. She analyzed every single second of it only to come with a startling realization; it was impossible that Scott ever saw Ryan enter the room. Yes, he had said that he had heard something, but his back was always turned away from the door. Why had he lied about that?

Also, if he hadn’t seen Ryan, how come he had been the one initiating their second kiss after they lost contact when she sat on the desk. If he didn’t know why she was kissing him, was it possible that…

No, Tessa stopped herself right there. She wouldn’t go there. She couldn’t.

Scott and her were only business partners, friends at the most. If she repeated it enough, maybe she’d finally accept it.


	12. December 15th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year (in a few hours) to you all!
> 
> Let's hope 2019 brings a lot of new exciting projects for Tessa and Scott :) 
> 
> Enjoy today's chapter, the last of 2018! 
> 
> (I'm sorry this won't be done for the New Year, but I did my best! I'll finish it in the new year :) )

Scott had slept maybe one hour, top, and he was being generous.

He just couldn’t stop thinking about what Tessa had said the night before and it had kept him up all night long. Apparently, she had kissed him for show, to prove to Ryan that their relationship was going strong, not because she liked him, which was kind of unfortunate because he had returned her kiss for completely opposite reasons.

He had lied to her, again. He hadn’t known that Ryan was there, spying on them from the embrasure of the door. He hadn’t known why Tessa had jumped on him like she had, but he had known that he loved it. The minute her lips had touched his he had been taken aback, yes, but he had also felt like his whole body was on fire. He knew from that moment that he needed more. So when their lips had lost contact while she sat on the desk, he had corrected the mistake instantly, not hesitating the slightest and connecting their lips once again in heated passion.

Minutes before that fiery kiss, he had been about to tell her so many things.

He had had a whole week to think about what had happened between them in a short month. Being apart from her for five days had been horrible. She had just vanished after the breakfast with his mom and she hadn’t even come to get her car back. She wasn’t even texting him like they used to. Not seeing her everyday had made him realize that there was no way in hell that he would be okay with simply parting ways after their deal would to come an end. He cared way too much.

So he had googled her name and used all his research resources to find where her charity fashion show was held so he could go and surprise her, but also so he could tell her all he had realized during their time apart.

He wanted to tell her way more than sorry for keeping hush about Jenna and he almost did. He had almost told her everything. He had started by telling her he liked her company. He wanted to tell her just how much he liked spending time with her, so much that he couldn’t imagine what he would do in January. After just a month of knowing her, she had turned his life upside down and he didn’t know what he would do without her.

Scott Moir had fallen for her and hard.

He had wanted her to know all that, but before he had the time to say anything, she had kissed him.

He really had thought for a moment that it was because she shared his feelings. He thought she had guessed what he was going to say and she had kissed him to answer that she felt the same way.

Boy was he wrong! The instant she had told him about Ryan spying on them, he had known he had made a mistake, a huge one. Tessa hadn’t kissed him because she liked him too. She was only pretending.

Patrice had been right. What they were doing was insanely dangerous. What was he thinking, faking a romantic relationship? He shouldn’t have gotten involved emotionally. The purpose of the contract was to keep things professional and not involve his heart, but he had done exactly the opposite of what was planned.

So after the party with Tessa’s colleagues, celebrating her success at raising thousands of dollars for charity, he had gone back home, feeling pitiful, and he had spent the whole night replaying their kiss in his head. He couldn’t shake off the feeling of Tessa’s lips on his, of his hips pressing between her legs, of all the things he had imagined when she had encircled his waist with her legs. For a moment, he had really thought that his wildest dreams were becoming reality.

Scott passed both hands in his hair, groaning. The day was only beginning and yet he was already drained, not able to think about something else than the kiss.

He didn’t know anymore how he would be able to survive to Ryan and Amy’s engagement party, even less Christmas with his whole family!

He tried to keep busy all day long, cleaning his already tidy apartment and shoveling all the snow out of the way from Tessa’s car. The physical work kept his mind at rest and allowed him to stop thinking about Tessa and their relationship for a while.

When the night came, he got dressed up for the engagement party and only when he was almost ready, putting on his tie, did he realize something big.

He had spent the night thinking about their kiss and only then was he realizing that some things just didn’t add up. If Tessa had only kissed him for show, how come she had also wrapped her legs around him? That was certainly not necessary. Surely Ryan’s doubts about their relationship would have been appeased with a simple kiss. There had been no need to take things that far. Was it possible that she too had gotten lost in their kiss? Was is possible that she had enjoyed it a little? And was it possible that her outburst at learning about Jenna wasn’t because she was afraid for their plan, but because she cared for him more than she admitted?

There was only one way to know; he was going to test the waters. He had a brilliant idea. He would put Tessa to the test, put her in situations to see how she would react. With that, he would be able to know if it was possible that she had fallen for him too.

Scott’s first step at testing Tessa’s feelings began when he got to her apartment. Since her car was still at his place, she had asked for a lift the night before and he had gladly obliged.

When she opened her door and let him in, he was struck with how beautiful she looked. The classic black she had chosen for the night was stunning and hugging her figure perfectly. Instead of keeping his thoughts to himself like he would have normally done, he decided to be truly completely honest with her, just to gauge her reaction.

“You look absolutely beautiful Tess,” he said, going even as far as kissing her on the cheek, letting his lip linger a bit too long on her soft skin.

He was pleased to see her blush and cover her cheek with her hand as he retreated.

_Real feelings 1, fake relationship 0._

“You ready to go?” he asked seamlessly as if his heart hadn’t started beating widely in his chest at Tessa’s simple but meaningful gesture.

Nodding silently, Tessa put on her coat and followed him to his car.

When they got to the restaurant where was held the party, Scott ran around his car to the passenger’s side to open the door for Tessa. He handed the keys to the valet and guided her inside, putting a hand on the small of her back. He didn’t know if he was imagining things, but he felt like she relaxed a little at the contact of his hand?

_Real feelings 2, fake relationship 0?_

When they entered the restaurant and the waiter took their coats though, he tried to put his hand on the naked skin of her lower back, her black dress being all open in the back, but this time instead of relaxing under his touch, she tensed, flinching away. It could have been only because his hand was cold, but he wanted to play fair.

_Real feelings 2, fake relationship 1._

Ryan and Amy chose that moment to great them and Scott plastered his biggest smile especially for them. He was well intended on winning this battle they seemed to be fighting against the new fiancés. There was no way he would let them think their couple was better than his and Tessa’s.

“Ryan, so nice to see you again,” Scott said, extending his hand to shake Ryan’s. He usually wasn’t like that, but that time he took pleasure in making sure he was holding his hand extra tightly. With all Tessa had told him about the guy, he couldn’t say that he liked him. Ryan’s slight wince was utterly satisfying.

“Scott.” Ryan nodded sternly before smiling coyly; “I see you and Tessa have put your clothes back on. After the little show you put on in her office yesterday…”

Scott and Tessa both turned red at his words. Ryan was playing dirty.

“What can I say? I just can’t resist her,” he said smugly even though he was dying inside. He wasn’t the kind of people who loved to talk about his intimate life, especially not with his fake girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend. He wished that what had happened between he and Tessa could have been kept between themselves only.

Tessa almost choked on her own saliva at Scott’s cocky answer and he didn’t know what to make out of it. He thought it was a good sign. If she had only been pretending for Ryan, she wouldn’t have been embarrassed at having been seen, would she? If it had been exactly her plan for Ryan to see that, she wouldn’t have almost turned blue trying to catch her breath.

_Real feelings 3, fake relationship 1?_

“Huh, that is so embarrassing,” Amy said and Scott stared at her. He had the feeling that she had way more things to be embarrassed of than he and Tessa did, but he wasn’t going to mention it. Being the better person often required to shut up. He didn’t want to lower himself to Amy and Ryan’s level.

Dinner came soon enough and Scott was relieved to see that they were seated at a table as far from the fiancés’ one as possible. In fact, they were sharing a table with Kaitlyn and her boyfriend Andrew as well as four of Tessa’s colleagues. It was way better company than Amy and Ryan could ever be.

Midway through the main course, feeling a little bold, Scott tentatively put his hand on Tessa’s thigh. She flinched at first, but when he started rubbing soft circles with his thumb, she slapped his hand away.

He retreated his hand, bending his head in shame.

That had probably been a little too much too soon…

“What are you doing Scott? There’s no one under the table to see that. Keep your hum, keep your romantic gestures to convince Ryan,” she had whispered and he took the hint.

_Real feelings 3, fake relationship 2._

After the dessert course, a delicious chocolate cake that he had barely tasted, having offered his part to Tessa, a spot was cleared in the middle of the restaurant to dance. Some of the tables were pushed aside, the lights were turned down and music started playing. Scott, having done years of ice dancing, was unsurprisingly at ease on a dancefloor. He knew that Tessa loved to dance too, having been part of the National Ballet School for a few years until injury forced her early retirement. He also knew that Ryan hated to dance and that it had saddened Tessa to never have the occasion to swirl on the dancefloor when they went out.

He stood up as soon as the first chords of a slow dance started to play and extended a hand to Tessa. She looked at him, chuckling; “What are you doing Scott?”

“What? Ain’t I allowed to ask my stunning girlfriend to dance?” he teased, bowing in front of her.

She laughed at that; “There isn’t even a single couple on the dancefloor!”

“Then let’s show them how it’s done” he said with a wink. He knew he had her convinced the moment she shot him that smile he felt like she reserved for him and only him.

They made their way to the dancefloor and when he felt Tessa take his hand in hers, she being the one initiating the move, he knew he had made yet another point.

_Real feelings 4, fake relationship 2._

They started by swaying slowly to the music and soon enough other couples joined them on the dancefloor. Scott felt bold and let his hands get low on Tessa’s hips and was pleased to see that she didn’t whisk them away. Instead, she put her hand on his shoulder and he felt her inhale shakily.

They stayed like that for what felt like only short minutes when it really was more than an hour. As time passed, he could feel Tessa relax more and more in his arms, their bodies molding perfectly with the other just like they had the night before.

When the night came to an end, Scott offered to take Tessa back to his apartment so she could finally retrieve her car after a week without it. As he parked his car in front of his building, he inhaled sharply and tensed.

The ultimate test was there. He had to do it. He had to try; “Do you want to huh, come inside?”

If she said yes, he promised himself he would tell her about all he felt for her. He promised himself he would be totally honest and pour his heart out.

“I huh, I…” she stopped and eyed him warily and he felt his heart sink. “I’m really tired, I should get back home,” she said before kissing his cheek and leaving hurriedly.

That was worth more than one point.

He guessed it was real feelings 4, fake relationship 4.

It was a tie.


	13. December 21st

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there!
> 
> So this is only some sort of filler chapter because I couldn't figure a way to jump from chapter 12 to 14 so I had to add this little bit of confused Tessa :) 
> 
> I hope you still enjoy it though!

For her last day at work before the holiday break, Tessa was absolutely unable to concentrate. In fact, it had been more than a week since she had last been able to concentrate for more than five minutes straight. 

She felt like she didn’t know a single thing about anything anymore. Every time she thought she finally had figured out the truth, something happened that made her doubt it. 

Ever since Ryan and Amy’s engagement party, she hadn’t had a single second of peace. Her mind and heart were constantly battling each other, not allowing her to sleep properly. The lack of sleep probably contributed to her state of near craziness, that and Scott’s totally unpredictable behaviour. 

What did he think he was doing exactly? 

It had all started on the night of the engagement party. She had been really apprehending the party after the way things had happened the night before, with the kiss and everything. She thought things were going to be awkward. She thought being with Scott would feel cold and uncomfortable. While it had been uncomfortable, it had been as far from cold as it could be. The first things Scott had told her were all those compliments about how beautiful she was looking before he had kissed her cheek. The instant his lips had touched hers, her whole body had shuddered as electricity literally ran through her, warming her. She hadn’t been able to help it, especially not since she had spent the hours before that reliving their passionate kiss in her head, she hadn’t been able to stop her hand from touching her cheek in wonder, but also in confusion. Why had he kissed her like that? They had never done it before. 

She then had been hit once again with her doubts about Scott’s true feelings. He had lied the night before about knowing Ryan was there, about knowing that they were kissing only for pretending. So was it possible that he was kissing her on the cheek because he liked her?

She hadn’t had time to ponder much longer though because they had had to leave for the party. 

Then Scott had guided her to the party, his hand on the small of her back, and she had felt so comfortable, like she belonged there, in his arm. But she also hadn’t been able to refrain from tensing when his hand had touched her naked skin because she wasn’t sure she was allowed to feel that way about him, not when she didn’t know where they truly stood. 

All night long he had been so cozy with her, but she couldn’t understand why. One small tiny part of her wanted to believe that he did all this because he liked her too, but she couldn’t help but find excuses. Maybe he was only playing to impress Ryan, maybe his hand had brushed her thigh by mistake, maybes, so many maybes!

She was going crazy!

On Monday morning, right after the party, all her colleagues had come to her, saying how she was lucky to have found someone like Scott, how charming he was, how handsome he was and so on. They had only sweet things to say not only about Scott, but about the their apparently perfect relationship. Kaitlyn had even come into her office, closing the door loudly and squealing like a school girl about how Scott was looking at her as if she’d hung the moon or something. Once again she had been hit with remorse at having to lie to her best friend. Her best friend who thought that Scott was the love of her life and that she was his. 

She wanted to believe all of it. She wanted it with all her heart, but she couldn’t help but have doubts. After all, if he really did like her, how come he wasn’t saying anything? How come he was touching her and caressing her and saying all those compliments, but never actually saying something about liking her, about wanting to be more than business partners/friends?

So she had decided that as long as he wasn’t telling her anything, she wasn’t either. There was no way she was telling him about how she felt. She didn’t want to be rejected. She had been rejected once, in the most horrible manner she could imagine, and it hurt too much to imagine herself being turned down by Scott. The sole idea of pouring her heart out to him only to see it shattered by rejection minutes later was making her sick. She preferred to have Scott in her life as a friend she was secretly in love with than losing him because she had been honest about her feelings. 

So she sucked it up and waited.

She had waited for him to say something as she sat through a lunch date with him on Tuesday, watching with pure wonder as he laughed at every single one of her jokes while they were clearly not that funny. She couldn’t be that hilarious. 

She had waited for him to say something when he had come to her house the night before, offering to cook her dinner and make her watch his favorite holiday movie, Home Alone. She had tensed in apprehension when he had put his arm around her shoulder while they were curled up on her couch. But he could also have only been stretching, no? 

She had waited the whole damn week, but he still hadn’t said anything. The longer she waited, the crazier she was becoming. 

She was leaving with Scott for Ilderton on the next day and she didn’t know how she was going to survive. An eight-hour drive to Ilderton and then four days of cheerful celebration with a dozen of Moirs probing about their non-existing romantic relationship? She didn’t how much she could support. 

So she decided that it was time she stopped waiting and took the matter into her own hands. If Scott couldn’t talk to her about what the hell was going between them two, then she was going to make him. She was going to test him. And she had her ideas on how…


	14. December 22nd, part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't make you wait much after the short chapter I updated yesterday ;) 
> 
> Finally some action!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Happy Xmas**

_So this is Christmas_   
_And what have you done_   
_Another year over_   
_And a new one just begun_

* * *

 

Scott was excited like a kid at Christmas and he felt like he had very good reasons to be; he was going on an eight-hour road trip across Ontario with Tessa, driving in one day from Montreal to Ilderton in his pick up; eight hours of sharing a very tight space with Tessa with nothing else to do than talk with each other.

It had been his idea. They could have taken the train or the plane, but when they had first made their contract/promise, he had thought they could use the time to get to know each other a little more, to make their relationship solid for the show they were putting up at his parents’ house. He hadn’t planned on seeing Tessa so often. He hadn’t planned on loving spending time with her so much that they ended up seeing each other almost every day. And he surely hadn’t planned on falling for her so hard that he had memorized every single detail about anything she had told him so far. They didn’t need eight hours more to get to know each other anymore, not at all. So ever since their kiss at Tessa’s charity event, Scott planned on using the long drive for a whole new purpose; to woo Tessa.

It was probably stupid and his brothers would laugh at him if they ever heard about his plan, but he felt like it was his best shot. All week long, he had never stopped putting Tessa to the test, touching her, embracing her, complementing her. He thought that if she liked him she would say something, but she had kept silent. He had had seven days to test her with any trick he could think of, from rubbing her thigh under the table at Ryan and Amy’s engagement party (fail) to inviting himself over to cook her dinner (success). Yet, his exhaustive testing had left him with no more answers than before. He was still completely at loss about where they were standing with each other.

He didn’t want to and wouldn’t be the one to tell Tessa about how he felt. The humiliation of proposing to Jenna only to see her reject him in front of all of their friends and family was still fresh even if it had happened years ago. Plus, he enjoyed being with Tessa too much to risk losing her. If she wasn’t talking it probably meant she only liked him as a friend. He preferred keeping their friendship than losing her completely because of unshared feelings.

Still, he had decided to allow himself one last try; the road trip. The drive to Ilderton felt like his last chance to finally make her fall for him and have her confess her feelings or something. He was all in.

At seven AM sharp, full of energy and optimism, he parked his car in front of her apartment complex and resisted the almost irrepressible urge to honk. As much as he would have loved to announce his arrival in the most childish manner, he didn’t want to be hated by all her neighbours. So he texted her a simple, “I’m there” with an awful lot of Santa Claus, snowmen and Christmas trees emojis.

Two minutes later, Tessa was pushing the glass door open with difficulty, dragging an enormous suitcase behind her a little clumsily. He immediately jumped into action, rolling his eyes at his own stupidity. So much for trying to woo her if he let her carry all her heavy stuff by herself while he sat comfortably in his truck.

He ran up the alley to hold the door for her.

“I can carry my own suitcase Scott,” she said with a smile as he took a hold of its handle.

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you carry all that heavy stuff?” he said playfully, his smile fading as he lifted the suitcase. “Jeez, are you carrying rocks or something?”

Tessa only laughed in response, not really answering his question, before adding; “I’ll run upstairs, I have to grab my bag of gifts for your family.”

Scott shook his head. He had tried to stop her from buying gifts for his family. After all, it was certainly not her role to spoil his nieces and nephews, but she had insisted, pretexting a love of shopping.

Fifteen minutes later, Tessa’s suitcase and her bag, which was in fact bag _s_ , of gifts were all packed in his truck and they were ready to go. As he buckled up, Tessa passed him a traveling mug of coffee and, in a totally surprising gesture, kissed him on the cheek before sitting back in her seat as if they did that all the time, completely unfased.

Scott though, he froze for a moment. What had she done? Had she really kissed him? He was the one supposed to be doing all those gestures, not her. Had the last week really work? Maybe she liked him too?

“Scott, are we going or what?” she asked him with a smile, cutting off his reverie.

“Yeah, yeah of course,” he said before putting the car into drive mode and speeding up the street.

“I can’t wait to meet all your family,” Tessa said as they stopped at a red light, turning to him with a grin. “If they are all half as great as you and your mother, I can only expect to have the greatest time,” she added and Scott’s heart swelled. He was proud of his family, had always been. The idea that Tessa felt like she would love her time spent with the Moirs filled him with pride and trepidation. He couldn’t wait to be home.

“And I’m sure they’ll love you too,” he said, taking her left hand in his before pressing a kiss to her knuckles. If she could take him by surprise with kisses, so could he.

He gloated silently as he saw her blush at the gesture and she stuttered to find something to say.

“Oh I love that song!” Tessa cut the tense atmosphere to rise the volume of his radio, _Happy Xmas_ by John Lennon resonating loudly in the car as she mouthed the lyrics, swinging happily in her seat.

Scott engaged the car on the bridge, crossing the Saint-Laurent river to leave Montreal’s island while thinking about the lyrics of the song; So this is Christmas, and what I’ve you done? He had fallen in love with the amazing woman seating besides him, that was what he had done.

They drove in silence for a while, only listening to whatever song there was on the radio as Scott continued to ponder about his feelings for Tessa. Since Christmas was only three days away, the songs being played were almost only those cheesy cheerful songs he loved so much. He had to say that he was quite surprised to see that Tessa never turned the music down nor did she change the radio station. She actually sang along most of the songs and even danced a little, as much as the car seat allowed her to.

“For someone who used to be a Grinch you sure seem to love Christmas music now,” Scott teased during one of the commercial breaks and Tessa turned towards him laughing.

“Yeah, I had a great teacher and learned how to love it again,” she teased, winking at him and putting a hand on his shoulder, playing with his hair.

Scott cleared his throat nervously and she retreated her hand. “Hey you wanna stop for coffee?” he asked as he spotted a sign advertising a Tim Hortons on the side of the highway. They had been on the road for close to three hours and he needed a break. Plus, the coffee Tessa had brought was long gone and he was still a little sleepy. Blame the lack of sleep from overthinking everything Tessa had said or done in the last week.

“Sure,” Tessa agreed with a shrug.

Ten minutes later they exited the highway and drove to the Tim Hortons. Scott went to wait in line while Tessa went to use the bathroom. He ordered them two coffees to go and each a blueberry muffin and just as he was paying, Tessa joined him at the counter, putting a hand on his shoulder to see what he had gotten them. He asked her to get napkins and as she went to the counter a little farther away, a woman tapped him on the shoulder.

“Excuse me, sir? Your wife dropped her scarf,” the woman said, handing him Tessa’s burgundy wool scarf.

“Oh thank you, but she’s no-“ he began to answer, but didn’t have time to correct the lady’s assumption before Tessa came back with a handful of napkins.

“Oh thank you so much Ma’am,” Tessa said, grabbing Scott’s hand in hers. What was she doing? That woman wasn’t a Moir nor a relative of Tessa as far as he knew. There was no need for them to pretend they were in a couple in front of her, even less a married one!

“No problem! Merry Christmas to you two!” the woman said, walking away from them towards what seemed to be her family.

But Scott was frozen in his spot. What was going on with Tessa? Kissing him on the cheek, playing with his hair, taking his hand in hers, not correcting the woman’s mistake about them being husband and wife?

“You coming?” Tessa asked innocently, cutting off his train of thoughts and he followed her back to the car, feeling as clueless as ever.

Tessa offered to drive for the next couple of hours be he refused, feeling like he needed at least something to concentrate if he didn’t want to go completely crazy overthinking his and Tessa’s relationship.

If he thought he had retrieved his concentration by driving, he was surely not prepared for what happened next.

They had been silent for a while, both simply enjoying each other’s company, when Scott felt something that almost made him throw the car into the ditch on the side of the road. It was a hand, Tessa’s hand, running up his thigh. He had been in the middle of a sip of coffee and he almost choked on it, dropping the fuming hot cup all over his pants.

“Oh my god!” he cried out both in pain and confusion as the coffee seeped through his jeans and burned his skin.

“Oh my god!” Tessa echoed, her hands going to cover her mouth in shock. “I’m so sorry Scott!”

Scott tried to keep his attention on the road, but he had some serious trouble doing so, both from the burning pain, but also because he wondered why Tessa had put her hand there???

He stopped the car on the side of the highway and turned to Tessa, a bewildered expression on his face.

“What the hell was that?” he asked.

Tessa shook her head, taking napkins in her hands to try and wipe up some of the coffee from his pants. As her hands started wiping his inner thighs, Scott jumped in his seat and pushed her hands away; that was dangerous territory.

“Tess? What are you doing?” he asked once again and she flushed crimson.

“I just, I hum,” she stuttered.

Suddenly, he knew he had to say something. They couldn’t keep going like that. They had been teasing each other for weeks. That kiss in Tessa’s office a week before? It hadn’t been pretending ant they both knew it. They couldn’t keep fooling themselves, not when the truth seemed to be so blatant.

“Tess, what are we doing?” he asked, shaking his, a smile forming on his lips.

“What do you mean?” she asked. He could see her feigning ignorance. She was a bad liar. They both were. They had probably sold their fake relationship only because it never really was fake; all along their feelings were true.

“You love me,” he stated simply.

“What?” she squeaked in a high pitch voice. “I don’t, I was just, I mean I, I,” she trailed off, failing to explain herself, much to Scott’s satisfaction.

Scott felt like there was no need denying it anymore, not when they had both spent the last week playing with each other, trying to see just how far they could go before one of them cracked.

“Hey,” he said, taking her head in his hands to force her to look at him, rubbing soft circles on her cheeks with his thumbs; “I love you too.”


	15. December 22nd, part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god! Only one chapter left after this! I can't believe it! 
> 
> This story was supposed to be over a while ago, but somehow I can't get rid of these versions of Tessa and Scott. I hope you all enjoy reading about them for a little while longer ;) 
> 
> Sorry I left you with a cliffhanger last time, but I made up for it in today's chapter! 
> 
> Enjoy!

**Happy Xmas**

_A very Merry Christmas_   
_And a happy new year_   
_Let's hope it's a good one_   
_Without any fear_

* * *

 

“I love you too.”

Tessa didn’t know how to feel anymore. She surely hadn’t been expecting a love declaration from Scott.

She had teased him, yes. She had gone as far as to run her hands on his inner thigh! His inner thigh! She had never been that bold before with someone whom she didn’t know if he shared her feelings. She just had felt like she had no other choice if she wanted for things to finally change. They had been dancing around the question for days. She needed to do something, anything, so they could finally have no other choice than to address the subject. They really needed to discuss whether or not they liked each other as more than the business partners they claimed to be.

But boy she hadn’t been expecting a love confession! She thought that her little tests would give them something to talk about like maybe attraction or emerging feelings, but love? Were they ready for that giant step? Were two short months really enough to fall so completely for someone?

“Tess, say something please?” Scott said, still holding her head in his hands, looking deeply in her eyes. At her prolonged silence he dropped his hold on her, slowly. Poor Scott was probably dying as he waited for her answer, but it was like she was frozen in her spot. She couldn’t find the words, even if they were simple. She had been hurt so much before. She didn’t know if she had the courage to tell him how she really felt. What if she ended up even more hurt than she had been by Ryan?

“Oh god! I messed it up didn’t I? You don’t actually love me don’t you, all the flirting it was just pretend. I should have known, I should have, I mean, I, you’re obviously out of my lea-“

“Scott, stop. I love you too,” she said, cutting Scott off as she finally returned to her senses and was able to form actual words. She didn’t want to be scared anymore. Ryan had left her terrified to ever put her heart out there again, but she didn’t want to give him that power anymore. She wanted the control of her life back, and it started by her feelings.

“You, you do?” she heard him ask, probably not sure if he should believe her after she had taken so long to answer.

“Yes I do, Scott Moir, I love you,” she repeated, smiling brightly as she saw his eyes shine with a million of tiny stars.

“God we’re stupid,” Scott said as he erupted in laughter and Tessa giggled.

They really had been stupid. They had lost so much time, both being too afraid to be the first of them to say something. To think they could have never stopped kissing after that first time at the charity event if only they had dared being honest. It gave Tessa goosebumps to think about would have happened had they not pretend that they were only playing a game, had she not been too scared to admit her feelings from the start.

“We are stupid,” Tessa agreed, shaking her head at her own foolishness.

“Let’s not waste any more time then,” Scott said in a whisper, his lips suddenly inches from hers as he looked deep into her eyes.

And then; fireworks. Literal fireworks exploded in her as their lips connected. It was nothing like the last time because she actually knew that they both wanted this. It wasn’t a stolen kiss in her office, half for show and half because she wanted too. This time they were sharing a kiss because it was their desire, because they loved each other.

There was one downside to their kiss though; they were in a car, a very tight space that proved too small for their fieriness. Soon enough, Tessa unbuckled herself and tried to get closer to Scott, but as she tried to climb in his lap, her knee bumped in the console between the two seats, making her cry out in pain.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” she said slightly out of breath, reconnecting their lips as fast as she could. She didn’t want to declare forfeit for a simple bruise. They were going to share the kiss of their lives, they both deserved it.

She succeeded at climbing in Scott’s lap and as she did so, she could feel his jeans completely soaked through with the coffee she had made him spill. Once again, she laughed at her own clumsiness. How could she think that she could pull something like rubbing his inner thigh without any catastrophe?

“What are you laughing about?” Scott asked, so close that his hot breath caressed her lips.

“Nothing,” she panted, tangling her hands in his hair and covering his mouth with hers once again. Scott licked her lips with his tongue and she obliged to him, opening her mouth so they could fully taste each other.

As they kissed, Scott went for the zipper of her winter coat and pushed it down a little, just far enough so he could have access to her neck. She felt his hot lips attack the sensitive skin at the base of her neck and she groaned, arching her back in pleasure.

“Ahhh!”

They both screamed and jumped apart as a loud honking sound took them by surprise. As she had arched her back, Tessa had pressed on the steering wheel, making the honk go off.

“We’re, in a, car” she said, trying to catch her breath as the reality of their situation sunk in. There was fog starting to form on the windows, but Tessa could still see that cars on the highway slowed down as they passed by them, probably trying to see if they needed assistance or something. What a scene they had probably offered to the dozens of travellers driving by!

“We need to go, before someone in one of those cars calls the police on us for exhibitionism or something,” she said, trying to be the voice of reason. As much as she wanted to keep kissing Scott, she knew it was unreasonable. Plus, they deserved better than Scott’s pick up.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” Scott said, passing a hand through his hair, trying to tame it, and trying to make himself more presentable.

Tessa sat back in the passenger’s seat and zipped her coat all the way up again.

“Alright hum, let’s go,” she said, gesturing vaguely to the road ahead of them. They still had 5 hours to drive. Five long hours of rolling on the highways of Ontario, watching the landscape pass by and trying very hard to tame down her need to rip Scott of all his clothes. That was going to be interesting.

Scott put the car back on drive mode and they re-entered the highway.

Even as Scott drove, Tessa couldn’t stop sending him side glances and giggling like a school girl who had just kissed her crush. After all, she might not have been a school girl, but she had indeed just kissed her crush, and he loved her!

Ten minutes later, she couldn’t stop herself from feeling a little bold once again and sneakily, she ran her hand on the inside of his thigh, biting down on her lips to muffle her laugh. She had barely brushed him when he whisked her hand away.

“Tess, don’t you dare or I swear I’ll have to stop the car on the side of the road and this time I’ll doubt we’ll be able to restrain ourselves,” he warned her and she nodded, chuckling.

“Alright, alright. How far are we?” she asked on a whiny tone. Why had she agreed on driving across Ontario? It would take forever while all she wanted to do was to kiss Scott into oblivion.

“Hum, four hours and a half left,” he said and Tessa crossed her arms in protest.

“Oh come on! It’s gonna be way too long,” she said and Scott laughed, taking her hand in his, kissing it.

“I got a crazy idea!” Scott suddenly exclaimed and Tessa looked at him. If he had any idea of what could make the time go faster until they reached their destination, she was in, no matter what it was!

“What is it?” she asked, curious.

“What about we stop in Toronto? It’s only an hour and a half away.” He stopped the car again on the side of the road and Tessa rolled her eyes. They would take forever to reach Ilderton if they kept stopping every fifty miles.

“Why would we stop in Toronto? And why are you stopping the car again?” she asked.

“Tess, I want to take you on a real date. We need this. We’ve been to plenty of dates before, but never a real one. I want to take you out to a real restaurant and show everybody how amazing my girlfriend is,” he suggested, looking at her and waiting for her answer.

“Girlfriend huh? One kiss and I’m already your girlfriend Moir,” she teased, even though she was thrilled at the thought. He just had to say it and she was his. She had been for a while.

“If I remember correctly I made you sign a document a month ago to make you my girlfriend,” he tried smugly.

“Fake girlfriend,” she corrected playfully. “I don’t recall you ever asking me to be you real one.”

“Alright. Tessa Virtue, would you do me the pleasure of becoming my real girlfriend and accompany me on a date in Toronto today?”

“I would absolutely love to,” she agreed, before hesitating a little; “But what about your parents?” Alma and Joe were waiting for the both of them around dinner time. She didn’t want to offend them or be rude by not showing up.

“I’m sure they won’t mind. Plus, after the way my mother imposed herself on us two weeks ago, she can’t say anything to guilty me into not doing this.”

“Then let’s do it, let’s go on a real date,” Tessa agreed, looking forward to spending a whole night with Scott, being themselves, no games, no pretend.

The rest of the drive to Toronto passed in a blur and Tessa could barely seat tight in her seat, feeling too excited.

They arrived in the city around half passed two in the afternoon. Scott drove them to a hotel where he booked a room for two, after confirming with her that it was okay or if she preferred they had each their own room for the night. She loved him even more for being so considerate.

They only went to the room to change and put their things. Tessa established a strict rule of no touching, no kissing, knowing too much that if they did as little as brush hands, they would end up tangled in each other, clothes would be spared and they would never make it to the restaurant.

As soon as they were done changing, they headed outside into the streets of Toronto, cladded in their warm winter coats. As they walked hand in hand, they passed by an outdoor skating rink and Tessa laughed as Scott looked at her, all excited and wishful.

“Come on Tess! Please!” he pleaded.

Two months ago she would have said no right away. Two months ago she was also still bitter over Ryan cheating on her and she hated the holidays with passion. She hated everything related to Christmas in any way; gingerbread cookies, twinkling lights, outdoor skating. But she was a changed woman who now enjoyed Christmas carols and cheesy romantic comedies. So she agreed to skating with a huge smile.

The last time she had skated she had to have been a teenager. Even back then, she skated maybe only once or twice a year and she had always been so clumsy. When she first stepped onto the ice, she was grateful to have Scott by her side because she lost her balance and fell directly into his arms.

“Wooh there! Careful,” Scott laughed, letting go of her when she regained her balance so he could make some steps of his own. If he wanted to impress her, he had succeeded. He had been a competitive ice dancer after all.

“Scott! Come back here!” she scolded him, feeling a little insecure without his hand in hers.

“Don’t worry, girlfriend,” he said, putting emphasis on the girlfriend, “I don’t plan on going anywhere,” he said, pecking her on the lips before taking back her hands and skating backwards, so he could guide her. She made a couple of tentative steps and let out a sigh of frustration. She hated not being good at something.

Scott probably sensed her distress because he stopped and looked at her intently; “Here, let me show you how to do it.”

With patience, he showed her basic tricks until she could skate frontwards and backwards and also break easily without falling on her butt. She learned fast and was really pleased with herself. It was the best first date ever.

They skated until their ears froze and their cheeks turned pink from the cold. The sun was setting at the horizon and they couldn’t feel their feet anymore.

“So, girlfriend,” Scott said as they were taking off their skates, clearly enjoying the use of the term girlfriend, “How about a nice dinner now?”

Nodding, Tessa let him lead her in the streets of the city.

They had dinner at candlelight in one of the most romantic place Tessa had ever went to. When dessert came though, Tessa couldn’t wait anymore. Ever since that first, passion-filled kiss in Scott’s truck, they had only shared small touches and little pecks on the lips. She needed more.

They couldn’t get back to their hotel fast enough. The door to their room was only half closed when Scott attacked her lips, tackling her body against the door. His hands were on her hips, while hers went to the base of his neck, playing with his hair. They broke apart a few seconds only to take off their winter coats and Scott hands went back on her waist before her coat even hit the floor, brushing the naked skin underneath the hem of her shirt and making her shiver.

Scott lips were everywhere on her; her lips, her neck, her collarbone, making her moan. Her whole body was on fire; a hot feeling was building deep within her and she felt like Scott couldn’t get close enough.

She switched their position, attacking his chest with her lips as she unbuttoned his shirt before she walked backwards to the bed, dragging Scott with her. She only stopped when the back of her knees hit the mattress. Holding her in his arm, Scott lowered her gently on the bed, their lips never losing their contact.

“I love you Tessa, so, so much,” he told her as he hovered her, looking deep in her eyes.

“And I love you too,” she replied, eyes shining with all the love she felt for him.

That night, as the city of Toronto shined of all its lights below the window of their room, they made sweet love in the intimacy of their darkened room, tangled in each other arms.

As she finally fell asleep in Scott’s arms, the sky already tainted yellow with the rising sun, Tessa remembered the time she had slept in Scott’s blankets on his couch. That time, she had buried her nose in the fabric, thinking it smelled like home. She realized why as she drifted off.

He was her home.


	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a wrap!
> 
> Thank you again for taking the time to read this story and leave kind comments. It really made me happy to write this and read your warm response to it.
> 
> I'm not sure yet about the rest. I'm still debating writing a sequel or some one shots of Tessa and Scott's life in the future... If any of you have ideas, I'm all ears!
> 
> Enjoy this last chapter!

Spending Christmas with Tessa at his parents’ was nothing like Scott had expected it would be.

When he had first met her, he was looking for an easy way out to his mom’s ever probing questions about his romantic life. He wanted to find someone who could accompany him to his Christmas events, no strings attached, only so he could avoid explaining for the hundredth time why he was still single and why he wasn’t over Jenna yet. 

He had met Tessa in a time of his life when he was doing everything except looking for love. Yet, by signing a contract with her to be partners in crime against Christmas and its expectations, he had obtained the exact opposite of what he had been waiting for and he couldn’t have been any happier. 

When he woke up on the 25th in his old childhood bedroom, Tessa was snuggled up against him, her hair brushing at his nose and he had his arms holding her close to his chest. As he breathed in her scent and she moaned softly at he kissed her neck, he realized right there that he was the happiest he had ever been. 

Not only was he with his family whom he didn’t see as much as he wanted to, but he had also found the love of his life because yes, he wasn’t afraid anymore to admit that Tessa was the love of his life. Never had he found someone like her and he knew he never would again. It was too soon to talk about forever, but he allowed himself to picture it in his wildest dreams.

What Scott appreciated even more was that everyone in his family loved Tessa so, so much. He remembered how his brothers had had some apprehensions when he had first introduced Jenna. He now could see why, and the fact that they accepted Tessa into their family so openly made him even more confident that she was the one. 

When they had first walked in his parents’ home on the 23rd, he had felt Tessa’s tight grip on his hand and he knew she was nervous to be face to face with all the Moirs, but it had taken less than a minute and one giant heart-warming hug from his mom before he felt her grip on his hand loosen and he knew that everything would be alright. 

His mother had already told so much about Tessa to the whole family that he felt like they had known her forever. His brothers’ wives were welcoming and included her immediately in their discussions while his nieces and nephews were all excited to meet “uncle Scott’s new girlfriend”. 

The best though, was that he and Tessa weren’t lying to anyone. Every single story they told was true. 

When Charlie asked how they met, Scott told the story of how he approached a stranger who was being chased by crazy Christmas carollers and how he imposed himself at her table during lunch time at the mall. 

When Danny asked what they did on their first date, Tessa told them about how she had dragged him to see the Nutcracker at the movies since she had always been a ballet lover and how she insisted that the only Christmas music they played while making her tree was Tchaikovsky’s.

When Charlie’s wife Julie asked him, in private while they were both drying the dishes, how he had known he loved Tessa, he told him that there wasn’t a single moment he could pinpoint. She had just woven her way into his life and when he had realized that he wouldn’t know what to do without her, that was when he realized he loved her. 

When Charlotte, Charlie’s daughter, all dressed up in her Rapunzel costume, asked him if he would marry Tessa one day, he whispered in her ear so no one else could hear, that he would love that very much. 

And then he made her pinky promise to not tell anyone. It was their secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hesitate to read my two other stories: Can't you see I much I love you and Love is the air (to which I'll post the epilogue soon... I've been quite distracted by this christmas story :) )

**Author's Note:**

> Please, let me know your thoughts about this so far! I always love to read your comments :)


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